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

by Martin Regal

  This exchange of property did not please the Thorbrandssons at all. They considered themselves the owners of all Ulfar’s property since he was their freed slave. Relations between them and Arnkel soured to the point where they did not even play games together any more, whereas before they had often held matches. Arnkel was the strongest competitor in the games, followed closely by a man named Freystein Bofi, who was Thorbrand’s foster-son, and allegedly, according to most people’s opinion, his own son, but his mother was a slave. Freystein Bofiwas an honourable man and a very strong one.

  Thorolf Lame-foot was not at all happy with Arnkel for killing his slaves and sought compensation for them, but Arnkel flatly refused to pay a penny for them. And Thorolf liked that even less. One day Thorolf rode out to Helgafell to visit Snorri the Godi who invited him to stay, but Thorolf said he did not need to eat his food.

  ‘I have come here because I want you to right the wrongs done against me,’ said Thorolf, ‘since I consider you the leading man in this district, who is therefore obliged to right wrongs on behalf of those who have been unfairly dealt with.’

  ‘Who has been dealing unfairly with you, farmer?’ asked Snorri.

  ‘My son Arnkel,’ Thorolf replied.

  ‘You shouldn’t complain about that,’ Snorri said, ‘for you’d do well to stay on the same side as him since he’s a better man than you are.’

  ‘That’s not how it is,’ replied Thorolf, ‘because he’s attacking me directly now. I would like to become a very good friend of yours, Snorri, if you will take up the prosecution of Arnkel for killing my slaves. I wouldn’t claim all the compensation for myself.’

  ‘I don’t want to get involved in a quarrel between father and son,’ Snorri replied.

  ‘You’re no friend of Arnkel’s,’ Thorolf said. ‘It may well be that you consider me stingy with money, but that’s not how it is now. I know that you would like to own Krakunes and its woods, which are the most precious in this district. I will hand all that over to you if you take up the case of my slaves and pursue it so vigorously that your reputation is enhanced by it and those who dishonoured me consider themselves harshly dealt with. I don’t want mercy shown to any member of my family, whether he is a close or distant relative.’

  Snorri considered himself very much in need of the woods. And so the story goes that he took over ownership of the land and took on the case of the slaves’ killing. Thorolf rode home after that, feeling very pleased with himself, but no one else had much to say in favour of the arrangement.

  In the spring Snorri brought a case at the Thorsnes Assembly against Arnkel over the killing of the slaves. There were large numbers on both sides at the assembly and Snorri was the prosecutor. But when the case came before the court, Arnkel called for an acquittal verdict, bringing forward evidence in his defence that the slaves were caught with fires lit for the burning of the farm.

  Snorri advanced the argument that the slaves were beyond the protection of the law at the place of the action, ‘but the fact is you took them over to Vadilshofdi and killed them there, and, in my opinion, they were not without legal rights there.’

  Snorri held the case together and Arnkel’s call for an acquittal was dismissed. After that men were appointed to mediate between them and a settlement was reached. The brothers Styr and Vermund had to arbitrate the case. They determined that twelve ounces of silver should be paid for each of the slaves, and it should be paid on the spot at the assembly. Once the fine was paid, Snorri gave the purse to Thorolf. He took it, saying, ‘I never expected when I gave you my land that you would follow this up so half-heartedly. I know that Arnkel would not have slighted me by paying me this kind of compensation for my slaves, if I had referred the matter to him.’

  ‘I don’t consider you to have been disgraced by this,’ replied Snorri, ‘but I don’t want to stake my reputation on your malice and injustice.’

  ‘It’s very likely that I won’t often come to you with my problems,’ Thorolf said, ‘but there’ll be other disasters to stop people in the neighbourhood from sleeping.’

  After that men left the assembly, with Arnkel and Snorri feeling unhappy about the outcome of the case, but Thorolf was feeling worse.

  32 The story goes that Orlyg of Orlygsstadir became ill. His brother Ulfar sat by him as his life began to slip away. He died from this illness, and as soon as he was dead, Ulfar sent for Arnkel. Arnkel went at once to Orlygsstadir and he and Ulfar laid claim to all the property and possessions there. When the Thorbrandssons heard about Orlyg’s death, they went to Orlygsstadir and claimed all the property and possessions that their freed slave had owned, but Ulfar declared himself to be his brother’s legal heir. They asked Arnkel which side he would back. Arnkel said that if he had anything to do with it, Ulfar was not going to be robbed by anyone as long as their fellowship continued.

  The Thorbrandssons went away then and rode over to Helgafell to tell Snorri the Godi what had happened and to ask for his help. But Snorri said he did not want to get embroiled in a dispute with Arnkel since they had been so slack in taking action to begin with, by letting Arnkel and Ulfar get their hands on the property first. The Thorbrandssons told him that he would not be able to manage bigger issues if he did not take care of matters such as this one.

  The next autumn Arnkel held a grand autumn feast at his farm. It was his habit to invite his friend Ulfar to all his feasts, and he always left with fine gifts. On the day when men were to leave the feast at Bolstad, Thorolf Lame-foot rode out from home. He went to visit his friend Seer-Gils, who lived at Seer-Gilsstadir in Thorsardal, and asked him to ride with him up to the ridge at Ulfarsfellshals. Thorolf’s slave went with them.

  Once they were up on the ridge, Thorolf said, ‘That’s where Ulfar will be riding back from the feast, and more than likely, he will have valuable gifts that he’s taking home. Now I would like you, Seer-Gils, to ride towards him and ambush him beneath the farm-wall at Ulfarsfell, and then I want you to kill him. In return I will give you three marks of silver and I will undertake to pay the compensation for the killing. Once you have killed Ulfar, you can take from him the treasures which he was given by Arnkel. Then run west along Ulfarsfell to Krakunes. If anyone follows you, you’ll be able to hide in the woods. Then come back to see me, and I’ll make sure that you are not harmed.’

  Because Seer-Gils had many dependants and was in much need of money, he accepted this lure and went out to the wall across the hayfield at Ulfarsfell. Then he saw Ulfar going down from Bolstad with a fine shield that Arnkel had given him and a decorated sword. When they met, Seer-Gils asked to see the sword. He praised Ulfar highly, saying he was a noble man to be so worthy of receiving such honourable gifts from chieftains. Ulfar began twirling his finger in his beard and gave him the sword and the shield. At once Gils drew the sword and ran it through Ulfar. After that he ran away from Ulfarsfell to Krakunes.

  Arnkel was standing outside when he saw a man running along with a shield, and he thought he recognized the shield. It occurred to him that Ulfar would not have given up the shield willingly.

  Arnkel then ordered his men to chase the man, saying, ‘because it looks like my father is behind this, and if this man has already killed Ulfar, you should kill him as soon as you get him, whoever he is, and don’t let him come into my sight.’

  Then Arnkel went up to Ulfarsfell and found Ulfar dead. Thorolf Lame-foot was watching when Seer-Gils ran along Ulfarsfell with the shield, so he assumed he knew what had happened to Ulfar.

  He said to the slave who was with him, ‘Go east to Karsstadir and tell the Thorbrandssons to go to Ulfarsfell and make sure they’re not robbed of their freed slave’s estate as they were before, now that Ulfar is dead.’

  After that Thorolf rode home, considering himself to have done rather well. Those chasing Seer-Gils got hold of him out at a cliff which rises up from the foreshore. They got the whole story out of him there, and when he had finished telling them all that had happened, they killed him and
buried him below the cliff. They took the treasures back to Arnkel.

  Thorolf’s slave arrived at Karsstadir and told the Thorbrandssons Thorolf ’s message. They went straight out to Ulfarsfell but when they arrived Arnkel was already there with a lot of men. The Thorbrandssons claimed the property that Ulfar had owned, but Arnkel brought forward the testimony of witnesses who had been present when Ulfar gave him possession of the property. Arnkel said he intended to retain it because it had not been contested at law, and he told them not to make any claims on the property since he was determined to keep it as if it were his own inheritance.

  The Thorbrandssons realized that they had no choice but to go away. They went on to Helgafell and told Snorri the Godi what had happened and asked for his support.

  Snorri said once again that they had been one move behind Arnkel, ‘and you won’t be able to wrest the property from his hands now that he has already taken everything into his possession. You have just as good a claim on the property, but it will go to the one who is physically stronger. And it’s very likely that Arnkel has more of a chance in this, just as he has had in all your other dealings with him. But it’s true to say that what happens to most others will happen to you, since Arnkel gets the better of everyone here in the district, and he will continue to do so while he lives – whether that’s for a long or a short time.’

  ‘It’s true what you say, Snorri,’ Thorleif Kimbi replied. ‘You might be said to be excused from defending our rights against Arnkel since you never get the better of him, no matter what the matter is that you are contending with him.’

  After that the Thorbrandssons went home in a very sombre mood.

  33 Snorri the Godi started exploiting Krakunes woods with a great deal of tree-felling. Thorolf Lame-foot thought the woods were being destroyed, so he rode over to Helgafell and asked Snorri to give him back the woods, claiming he had only lent them and not given them to him. Snorri said that could be cleared up by asking the opinion of those who had witnessed the deal, adding that he would not give up the woods unless they testified against him. Thorolf then rode away and was in an extremely bad mood. He rode over to Bolstad to see his son Arnkel, who welcomed his father warmly and asked what his business was.

  ‘My purpose in coming here,’ said Thorolf, ‘is that I’m unhappy that we are getting along so badly. I’d like us to put that behind us and to renew our kinship because it’s unnatural for us to be on bad terms. It seems to me we could become the most powerful men in the district with your courage and my plans.’

  ‘I’d certainly like it better if we were closer,’ Arnkel replied.

  ‘I propose, then, that we begin our reconciliation and friendship by getting back Krakunes woods from Snorri the Godi, because I think it’s the worst thing in the world that he oppresses us and won’t give me back the woods. He even says that I have given them to him, but that’s a lie,’ Thorolf said.

  ‘It wasn’t out of friendship for me that you gave the woods to Snorri,’ Arnkel said, ‘and I’m not going to get involved in a dispute with Snorri about the woods on account of your slander. I know that he doesn’t have any legal rights to the woods, but I don’t want to see you, through your maliciousness, gloating over a quarrel between Snorri and me.’

  ‘In my opinion,’ said Thorolf, ‘it is more your meanness, than your denying me the pleasure of a quarrel between the two of you.’

  ‘Believe whatever you like about it,’ Arnkel replied, ‘but as matters stand, I’m not going to quarrel with Snorri over the woods.’

  With that, father and son parted. Thorolf went home, very unhappy with his lot, thinking that he would not be able to get his own way easily. Thorolf Lame-foot arrived home in the evening and did not speak to anyone. He sat down in his high seat and did not eat anything all evening. He sat there after everyone else had gone to bed. In the morning when they got up, Thorolf was still sitting there and he was dead.

  The mistress of the house sent a messenger to Arnkel to advise him of Thorolf’s death. Arnkel rode over to Hvamm with some of his men. When they arrived at Hvamm, Arnkel made sure that his father was dead, sitting there in the high seat, but everyone else was terrified because his death seemed to them so unpleasant. Then Arnkel went into the fire room, and walked up along the benches behind Thorolf. He told everyone to beware of walking in front of him until his eyes had been closed. Then Arnkel took hold of Thorolf’s shoulders and he had to exert more force than he expected in order to move him. He wrapped some clothes around Thorolf’s head and prepared his body according to the customs of the time. After that he had the wall behind him broken down to drag the body outside. Oxen were harnessed to a sled on which Thorolf’s corpse was laid, which was then driven up into Thorsardal, but not without a lot of effort, until he was brought to the place where he was to be buried. They buried Thorolf in a strongly built cairn.

  After that Arnkel rode home to Hvamm and claimed as his own all the property and possessions his father had owned. Arnkel stayed there for three nights and this was an uneventful time. Then he went back home.

  34 After the death of Thorolf Lame-foot, it seemed to many people worse to be out of doors once the sun went down. As the summer passed, they became aware that Thorolf was not resting in peace. People could never go outside in peace once the sun had set. As well as that, the oxen that had hauled Thorolf to his grave had been ridden by trolls, and all livestock which came anywhere near Thorolf’s cairn ran wild and bellowed themselves to death. The shepherd at Hvamm often came running home because Thorolf had chased him.

  Then there was an incident at Hvamm during the autumn when neither the shepherd nor the livestock came home, and in the morning when a search was made for them, the shepherd was found dead a short distance from Thorolf’s cairn. His body was coal-black all over and every bone was broken. He was buried beside Thorolf. All the livestock which had been in the valleys were either found dead or they had strayed into the mountains, never to be found again. And if any birds landed on Thorolf ’s cairn, they fell down dead at once.

  Things got to the stage where no one dared to graze their animals up in the valley. People often heard loud noises outside during the night at Hvamm, and they often became aware that there were people outside riding on their roofs. Once winter came Thorolf often appeared on the farm, pursuing the mistress of the house most of all. Many people were harmed by this, but it drove her out of her wits, and she ended up dying because of it. She was carried up into Thorsardal and buried beside Thorolf.

  After that everyone fled from the farm. Thorolf now began walking around the valley so widely that he devastated all the farms. It got so bad that his ghost killed some men and some fled. And all those people who died were then seen in Thorolf’s company. People were now complaining a lot about this menace. Arnkel seemed to them to be the one responsible for setting things right. He invited anyone to stay with him who thought they were better off there than anywhere else. Wherever Arnkel was, there was never any trouble from Thorolf and his company. People grew so afraid of Thorolf’s ghost during the winter that no one dared to go about their usual business, even if it was urgent.

  But winter passed and fine spring days began to thaw the earth. Once it was completely thawed, Arnkel sent a messenger over to Karsstadir to the Thorbrandssons and asked them to go with him to move Thorolf out of Thorsardal and to find another burial site. According to the laws of the time, everyone was bound to help move dead people into graves if they were asked, just as they are obliged to do now. But when the Thorbrandssons heard this they said they saw no need to do anything to get Arnkel or any of his men out of their difficulties.

  Then the old man Thorbrand said, ‘It is necessary to do whatever the law requires people to do, and you have been asked to do something you cannot refuse to do.’

  Thorodd then said to the messenger, ‘Go back and tell Arnkel that I will help him with this on behalf of us brothers. I’ll go to Ulfarsfell and meet him there.’

  The messenger we
nt back and told Arnkel this. He got ready for his journey straightaway and left with eleven men, a sled and digging tools. First they went up to Ulfarsfell, where they met up with Thorodd Thorbrandsson and two of his men. They rode up along the ridge and came into Thorsardal, where they broke open Thorolf ’s cairn. Thorolf ’s body had not decayed but he was very hideous to look at. They took him out of the grave and laid him on the sled which was drawn by two strong oxen. They hauled him up to Ulfarsfellshals but the oxen were so exhausted by it that they had to be replaced by two others to drag him farther along the ridge. Arnkel was planning to take him over to Vadilshofdi and bury him there, but when they came to the edge of the ridge, the oxen went crazy and broke loose. They ran down the ridge and headed out along the hillside above the farm at Ulfarsfell, and from there out to the foreshore where they both collapsed and died. Thorolf was by now so heavy that they could hardly manage to lift him at all. They dragged him across to a small headland which was nearby and buried him there. It has been known as Lame-foot Headland ever since. Then Arnkel had a wall built across the headland above the cairn, so high that no one could see over it except a bird in flight, and remains of the wall can still be seen. Thorolf lay there quietly as long as Arnkel lived.

  35 Snorri the Godi continued to exploit Krakunes woods despite the fact that Thorolf Lame-foot had raised objections to it, but Arnkel the Godi soon made it known that he did not think the title to the woods had been legally transferred. In his opinion, Thorolf had defrauded his rightful heirs by handing over the woods to Snorri the Godi.

  One summer Snorri sent his slaves to work in the woods. They chopped down a great deal of timber, stacked it up and then went back to the farm. When the timber was drying, Arnkel pretended as if he were going to have the timber brought to his farm, but that is not what he did. Instead he told his shepherd to keep watch and tell him when Snorri had the timber fetched. When the timber was dry, Snorri sent three of his slaves to fetch it. He got his follower, Hauk, to accompany the slaves and support them. They set off and loaded the timber on to twelve horses and then turned on their way back to the farm.