Gisli Sursson's Saga and The Saga of the People of Eyri

by Martin Regal

‘I see,’ said Bork. ‘Is Ingjald the farmer at home?’

  ‘He rowed back to the island quite some time ago,’ she said, ‘and his slave was with him, as far as I know.’

  ‘That is not what’s happened,’ said Bork. ‘It must be Gisli who is with him. Let’s row after them as fast as we can.’

  The men answered, ‘We’re having fun with the idiot,’ and looked towards him. ‘Look at how madly he’s behaving.’

  Then they said what a terrible thing it was for her to have to look after this fool.

  ‘I agree,’ said Bothild, ‘but I think it’s just idle amusement for you. You don’t feel sorry for me at all.’

  ‘Let’s indulge no further in this nonsense,’ said Bork. ‘We must be on our way.’

  They left, and Bork and his crew rowed out to Hergilsey and went ashore. Then they saw the men up on Vadsteinaberg and headed that way, thinking they were really in luck. But it was Ingjald and his slave up on the crag.

  Bork soon recognized the men and said to Ingjald, ‘The best thing you can do is hand over Gisli – or else tell me where he is. You’re an unspeakable wretch, hiding my brother’s murderer like this when you’re my tenant. Don’t expect any mercy from me. You deserve to die for this.’

  Ingjald replied, ‘My clothes are so poor that it would be no great grief if I stopped wearing them out. I’d rather die than not do all I can to keep Gisli from harm.’

  It is said that Ingjald served Gisli best, and that his help was the most useful to him. When Thorgrim Nef performed his magic rite, he ordained that no assistance Gisli might receive from men on the mainland would come to anything. However, it never occurred to him to say anything about the islands, and thus Ingjald helped him for longer than most. But this could not last indefinitely.

  27 Bork thought it was unwise to attack his tenant, Ingjald, so he and his men turned instead towards the farmhouse to search for Gisli. As was to be expected, they did not find him there, so they went about the island and came to a place where the fool lay eating in a small, grassy hollow, haltered by the neck to a stone.

  Bork spoke: ‘Not only is there a great deal of talk about this fool, but he seems to move around a lot more than I thought. There’s nothing here. We have gone about this task so badly that it doesn’t bear thinking about, and I have no idea when we’ll be able to make matters right. That was Gisli in the boat alongside us, impersonating the fool. He’s got a whole bag of tricks, as well as being a skilled mimic. But think how much it would shame us to let him slip through our fingers. Let’s get after him quickly and make sure he doesn’t escape our clutches.’

  They jumped aboard their ship and rowed after Gisli and Bothild, pulling long strokes with their oars. They saw that the two of them had gone quite some distance into the sound, and now both vessels rowed at full pace. The one with the larger crew sped along faster, and finally it came so close that Bork was within spear-throwing range as Gisli pulled ashore.

  Gisli said to the slave-woman, ‘Here we part ways. Take these two gold rings – one you must take to Ingjald and the other to his wife. Tell them to give you your freedom and accept these as tokens. I also want Svart to be freed. You have truly saved my life and I want you to reap your reward.’

  They parted and Gisli jumped ashore and ran to a ravine in Hjardarnes. The slave-woman rowed off and the sweat rose from her like steam.

  Bork and his men rowed ashore and Outlaw-Stein was the first off the boat. He ran off to look for Gisli and when he reached the ravine, Gisli was standing there with his sword drawn. He drove it at once through Outlaw-Stein’s head, split him down to the shoulders, and he fell to the ground, dead. Bork and the others then came on to the island and Gisli ran down to the water, intending to swim for the mainland. Bork threw a spear at him and it struck him in the calf of his leg, wounding him badly. Gisli removed the spear, but lost his sword, too weary to keep hold of it any longer. By then, the darkness of night had fallen.

  When Gisli reached land he ran into the woods – at that time there was woodland in many places – and Bork and the others ran ashore to look for him, hoping to restrict him to the woodland. Gisli was so worn out and stiff that he could hardly walk, and he was also aware that he was surrounded on all sides by Bork’s party of men.

  Trying to think of a plan, he went down to the sea, and in the darkness he made his way along the shoreline under the shelter of the overhanging cliffs until he came to Haug. There he met a farmer named Ref,31 a very sly man. Ref greeted him and asked him what was going on. Gisli told him all that had taken place between him and Bork and his men. Ref had a wife named Alfdis, a good-looking woman, but fierce tempered and thoroughly shrewish. She and Ref were more than a match for each other. When Gisli had given his account, he urged Ref to give him all the help he could.

  ‘They will be here soon,’ said Gisli. ‘I’m in a very tight spot and there aren’t too many people around to whom I can turn.’

  ‘I will help you, but on one condition,’ said Ref, ‘that I alone decide how I go about matters, and you must not interfere.’

  ‘I accept,’ said Gisli. ‘I will not venture any farther on my way.’

  ‘Come inside then,’ said Ref. And so they went in.

  Then Ref said to Alfdis, ‘Now, I’m going to give you a new bedfellow.’

  And he took off all the bed covering and told Gisli to lie down on the straw. Then he put the covers back over him and now Alfdis lay on top of him.

  ‘And now you stay put,’ said Ref, ‘whatever happens.’

  Then he asked Alfdis to be as difficult to deal with as possible and to act as madly as she could.

  ‘And don’t hold yourself back,’ said Ref. ‘Say whatever comes into your mind. Swear and curse as much as you like. I’ll go off to talk with them and say whatever occurs to me.’

  When he went out again he saw some men coming – eight of Bork’s companions. Bork himself had stayed behind at the Fossa river. These men had come to search for Gisli and to capture him if they found him. Ref was outside and asked them what they were doing.

  ‘We can only tell you what you must already know. Have you any idea where Gisli has gone? Has he come by here by any chance?’

  ‘First,’ said Ref, ‘he has not been here. If he had chanced it he would have met with a very swift end. And second, do you really think I am any less eager to kill him than you? I have sense enough to know that it would mean no small gain to be trusted by a man such as Bork and be counted his friend.’

  They asked, ‘Do you mind if we search you and the farm?’

  ‘Of course not,’ said Ref, ‘please do. Once you’re certain he’s not here, you’ll be able to concentrate on searching elsewhere. Come in and search the place thoroughly.’

  They went in, and when Alfdis heard the noise they were making she asked what gang of thugs was out there and what kind of idiots barged in on people in the middle of the night. Ref told her to calm down, and she responded with a flurry of foul language that they were unlikely to forget. They continued to search the place even so, but not as carefully as they might have done if they had not had to suffer such a torrent of abuse from the farmer’s wife. Having found nothing, they left and wished the farmer well. He, in return, wished them a good journey. Then they went back to meet Bork and were highly displeased with the whole trip. They felt they had lost a good man, been put to shame and achieved nothing.

  News of this spread all over the country and people considered that the men had derived nothing from their futile search for Gisli. Bork went home and told Eyjolf how matters stood. Gisli stayed with Ref for two weeks and then left. They parted good friends and Gisli gave him a knife and a belt – both valuable possessions. Gisli had nothing else with him.

  After that Gisli returned to his wife in Geirthjofsfjord. His reputation had increased considerably as a result of what had happened, and it is truly said that there has never been a more accomplished and courageous man than Gisli, and yet fortune did not follow him.
/>   But now to other matters.

  28 To return to Bork. That spring, he went with a large group of men to the Thorskafjord Assembly, intending to meet with his friends. Gest travelled east from Bardastrond, as did Thorkel Sursson. They arrived in separate ships.

  When Gest was ready to embark, two poorly dressed young men with staffs approached him, and it was noticed that Gest spoke to them in secret. They asked if they might go with him on his ship and he granted them that favour. They journeyed with him to Hallsteinsnes, then went ashore and walked on until they came to the Thorskafjord Assembly.

  There was a man named Hallbjorn, a wanderer who travelled around the country, though always with a group of ten or twelve others. He raised a booth for himself at the assembly, and this is where the two young men went. They asked him for a place in the booth, saying that they, too, were wanderers, and he said he would give shelter to anyone who asked for it.

  ‘I’ve come here many a springtime,’ he said, ‘and I know all the chieftains and godis.’

  The lads said they would be pleased to be in his care and learn from him: ‘We’re very curious to see all the grand and mighty men we have heard so many stories about.’

  Hallbjorn said he would go down to the shore and identify every ship as soon as it came in, and tell them which it was. They thanked him for his kindness, and then they all went down to the shore to watch the ships as they sailed in.

  Then the elder lad spoke: ‘Who owns the ship that is sailing in now?’

  Hallbjorn told him it belonged to Bork the Stout.

  ‘And who is that, sailing in next?’

  ‘Gest the Wise,’ he said.

  ‘And that ship, coming in behind him, and putting up at the horn of the fjord?’

  ‘That is Thorkel Sursson,’ said Hallbjorn.

  They watched as Thorkel came ashore and sat down somewhere while the crew carried their goods and provisions on to to dry ground, out of reach of the tides, and Bork set up their booth. Thorkel was wearing a Russian hat and a grey fur cloak that was pinned at the shoulder with a gold clasp. He carried a sword in his hand. Then Hallbjorn went over to where Thorkel was sitting, and the young men went with him.

  One of the lads spoke – it was the elder. He said, ‘Who is this noble-looking man sitting here? Never have I seen such a fine and handsome man.’

  The man answered, ‘Well spoken. My name is Thorkel.’

  Then the lad said, ‘That must be a very good sword you have there in your hand. Would you allow me to look at it?’

  Thorkel answered him, ‘Your behaviour is rather unusual, but all right, I’ll allow you to,’ and he handed him the sword.

  The young man took it, turned to one side, unfastened the peace straps and drew the sword.

  When Thorkel saw that he said, ‘I did not give you permission to draw the sword.’

  ‘I did not ask your permission,’ said the lad.

  Then he raised the sword in the air and struck Thorkel on the neck with such a fearsome blow that it took off his head.

  When this had happened, Hallbjorn leapt up and the lad threw down the blood-stained sword. He grabbed his staff and he ran off with Hallbjorn and the others in his band, who were almost out of their wits with fear, and they all ran past the booth that Bork had set up. People thronged around Thorkel, but no one seemed to know who had done this deed. Bork asked why there was so much noise and commotion around Thorkel just as Hallbjorn and about fifteen of his band ran past the booth. The younger lad was named Helgi, while his older companion, who had done the killing, was named Berg.

  It was Helgi who answered: ‘I’m not sure what they are discussing, but I think they’re arguing about whether Vestein left only daughters behind him, or whether he had a son.’

  Hallbjorn ran to his booth, and the lads hurried to some nearby woods and could not be found.

  29 People ran into Hallbjorn’s booth and asked what had happened. The road-farers told them that two young men, about whom they knew nothing, had come into their group and that they had no idea this would happen. Then they gave descriptions of them and repeated what the young men had said. From what Helgi said Bork surmised that they were Vestein’s sons.

  Then Bork went to meet Gest and discuss with him what should be done.

  Bork said, ‘I bear a greater responsibility than anyone else to bring a suit in the wake of my brother-in-law Thorkel’s slaying. We think it not unlikely that Vestein’s sons did this deed. No one else could have had anything against Thorkel. And it looks as if they’ve escaped for the moment. Tell me how I should proceed with the case.’

  Gest answered him, ‘I know what I’d do if I had done the killing. I’d get out of it by changing my name, so that any case brought against me would come to nothing.’

  And he discouraged Bork from pursuing the accusation. People were reasonably sure that Gest had conspired with the lads because he was a blood-relation of theirs.

  They broke off their talk and the case was dropped. Thorkel was buried according to the old customs, and then everyone went home. Nothing else of note took place at the assembly. Bork was as displeased with this trip as he had often been with the others, and this matter brought much disgrace and dishonour to him.

  The young men travelled until they reached Geirthjofsfjord, where they spent five days and five nights out in the open. By night they went to Aud’s farm – where Gisli was staying – and knocked on the door. Aud went to the door to greet them and asked their business. Gisli lay in bed in the underground hideout, and she would have raised her voice if he had needed to be on his guard. They told her of Thorkel’s slaying and what the situation was, and also how long they had gone without food.

  ‘I’m going to send you,’ said Aud, ‘across the ridge to Mosdal, to Bjartmar’s sons. I’ll give you some food and some tokens so that they will give you shelter for a while, and I’m doing this because I’m in no mind to ask Gisli to help you.’

  The young men went into the woods, where they could not be traced and, having gone without food for a long time, they ate. When they had satisfied their hunger, they lay down to sleep because by then they were very tired.

  30 At this point, the story turns to Aud. She went to Gisli and said, ‘Now, it means a great deal to me how you will act and whether you choose to honour me more than I deserve.’

  He answered her quickly, ‘I know you are going to tell me of my brother Thorkel’s death.’

  ‘It is so,’ said Aud, ‘and the lads have come and want to join you. They feel they have no one else to rely on.’

  Gisli answered, ‘I could not bear to see my brother’s killers or to be with them’, and he jumped up and went to draw his sword as he spoke this verse:

  23.

  Who knows, but Gisli may

  again draw cold sword

  from sheath when warriors

  from the assembly report

  the slaying of Thorkel

  to that sword-polisher. that sword-polisher: warrior

  We will dare great deeds,

  even to the very death.

  Aud told him they had already left – ‘for I had sense enough not to risk their tarrying here’.

  Gisli said it was better that they did not meet. Then he soon calmed down and things were quiet for a while.

  It is said that at this time, according to the prophecy of the dream-woman, Gisli had only two years of life remaining to him. As time passed, Gisli stayed in Geirthjofsfjord and all his dreams and restless nights began again. Now it was mainly the bad dream-woman who came to him, although the good one also appeared sometimes.

  One night, Gisli dreamed again that the good dream-woman came to him. She was riding a grey horse, and she invited him to come home with her, to which he agreed. They arrived at a house, which was more like a great hall, and she led him inside. He saw cushions on the raised benches and the whole place was beautifully decorated.

  She told him they would stay there and take their pleasure – ‘and this is where
you will come when you die,’ she said, ‘and enjoy wealth and great happiness’.

  Then Gisli awoke and spoke several verses concerning what he had dreamed:

  24.

  The thread-goddess invited thread-goddess: woman

  the praise-maker to ride praise-maker: poet

  on a grey steed to her home.

  And as we rode along

  she was gentle to me,

  that bearer of the ale-horn bearer of the ale-horn: woman

  swore she would heal me.

  I remember her words.

  25.

  The good dream-woman

  led me, the poet, to sleep

  there, where soft beds lay.

  From my mind this will not fade.

  The thread-goddess led me

  to her soft resting place,

  so perfectly arranged,

  and there I lay me down.

  26.

  ‘Here will you lie down

  and breathe your last with me,’

  said the Hild of the rings. Hild (goddess) of the rings: the dream-woman

  ‘And here, my warrior,

  you will rule over all this wealth

  and have dominion over me,

  and we will have riches

  beyond gold’s measure.’

  31 It is said that on one occasion when Helgi was sent again to spy in Geirthjofsfjord – where everyone believed Gisli to be staying – a man named Havard went with him. He had come to Iceland earlier that summer and was a kinsman of Gest Oddleifsson. They were sent into the woods to cut timber for building, and although that was the apparent purpose of their journey, it was really a ploy for them to look for Gisli and to see whether they could locate his hideout. One evening they saw a fire on the ridge, south of the river. This was at dusk, but it was very dark.

  Then Havard asked Helgi what they should do – ‘For you are more used to all this than I am,’ he said.

  ‘There is only one thing to do,’ said Helgi, ‘and that is to build a cairn here on this hillock, where we are now, so that it can be found tomorrow when it grows light enough to see.’