The Sagas of the Icelanders

by Smilely, Jane

  When Ingolf heard this, he met with his brother and said that his dealings with Svart were risky – ‘I wish that he would go away.’

  Gudbrand said that he believed the man intended him no harm, and that he had shown no inclination to do anything wrong since he arrived.

  Ingolf said, ‘We don’t look at this matter in the same way, because this fellow looks like a hired killer to me and he will prove to be bad news; I don’t want him to be anywhere near you, because something tells me that he is evil, and it seems to me that forethought is better than afterthought.’

  But things did not turn out this way and Svart remained there over the winter. During the spring, with summer approaching, Gudbrand moved his household up to the shieling, and things were so arranged that the mistress of the house rode on her own, Gudbrand and Svart rode together on one horse, with Svart at the rear. And when they came to the marshes now known as Svartsfell Marsh, the horse sank under their weight, and Gudbrand told Svart to slide back off the horse at that moment, and he did so; and when Svart saw that Gudbrand was not watching, he turned his spear towards him.

  The housewife saw this and said, ‘Watch out for that dog, who wants to betray and kill you.’

  At that instant, Svart thrust Gudbrand through with his spear – under his arm and right into his torso. Gudbrand managed to draw his sword and swung at Svart and slashed him severely in the midriff.

  The mistress of the house arrived at the shieling and reported the deaths of both men, and this was considered terrible news. Ingolf heard about this and said that things had turned out as he had feared. He prepared a lawsuit against Ottar to be heard at the Althing on the grounds of his plotting to kill both him and his brother. And when men came to the assembly, compensation terms were sought, though these were hard won from Ingolf. However, because many good men took part, and also because Ingolf had not kept to the terms of his settlement with Ottar regarding his visits to Valgerd, he finally accepted a settlement – three hundred of silver for the plot against Gudbrand; the breach of settlement with Ottar over Valgerd would then be disregarded.

  With this agreed Ingolf and Ottar parted company and were reconciled. Ingolf and his wife had two sons named Surt and Hogni. Both of them were accomplished men. Ingolf was regarded as a great chieftain, in many ways following admirably in the footsteps of his father. By this time Olaf at Haukagil was ageing fast.

  41 Outlaws and robbers were much in evidence at this time, both in the north and the south, so that people could hardly hold their own. One night they stole a great deal of food from Haukagil because there was plenty of everything to be had there. Olaf went and met Ingolf and told him of this. Ingolf prepared to set off from home with fourteen men. Olaf told him to be careful and said that his safe return home mattered more to him than the whereabouts of the food. They rode south over the heath and talked about the robbery at Olaf’s homestead. The thieves had stolen goods worth fifteen hundred ells.

  Ingolf and his men came across their tracks and followed them until they became confused because the tracks went off in two different directions. Then the men split up, eight in one party and seven in the other, and they searched in this way for a long time. A short distance from them were some shielings and they made for them. There they saw eighteen horses by one shieling and they concluded that it must be the thieves; and they said that the best idea would be to look for their own companions.

  Ingolf said that in some ways this was inadvisable, ‘because the thieves may then reach their cave, for it is only a short distance away, and they will be safe if they get there; and then our journey would be worthless – besides we are not sure where our men are’.

  Ingolf jumped down off his horse and ran down into a nearby ravine, picked up two flat stones, and fixed one to his chest and the other between his shoulders, and so protected his exterior. In his hand he had the sword Aettartangi and then went into the shieling. It had two doors. Men say that Ingolf had the support of no more than one other man. Ingolf’s companion then said that they should let his other men know what was going on. Ingolf said that he would guard the shieling doors, and his companion could go off after the other men.

  The companion said that he would not leave him – ‘it seems to me that your supporters here are by no means thick on the ground’.

  Ingolf wanted to attack straight away and told his companion to follow him staunchly. The thieves laid into him as soon as he entered, but the stones which he was wearing protected him, and the blows glanced off him.

  They then attacked Ingolf from all sides, but he defended himself bravely and well. Then he raised Aettartangi and the sword fell on the head of the man standing behind him so that he met his death, and it delivered a death blow to the man standing in front and thus Ingolf killed them both with a single blow. There was a fierce fight and, when it finished, Ingolf had killed five men, and his companion had also been struck down. They had by then come out of the shieling but Ingolf was severely wounded. His men approached him. The thieves then fled, and Ingolf’s men seized the booty and fastened it on to the horses and then headed off back northwards.

  Ingolf lay wounded that winter, and the wounds healed after a fashion. But in the spring, when the weather grew warmer, his wounds opened up again, so that he was brought to his death. And before Ingolf died, he asked to be buried on a different hill from the one on which his kinsmen were buried, and said that the girls of Vatnsdal would remember him better if his grave were close to the road. He then died. The place where he was buried is called Ingolfsholt. All men lamented greatly the death of Ingolf. He had lived on in great honour for twelve years after the death of his father. Ottar married his daughter Valgerd to a Stafholt man.

  When Ingolf died, Vatnsdal was without a chieftain, because the sons of Ingolf were not able to assume the godord due to their age. Men sought to know what should be done. It was the law at this time that, while heirs were still young, whoever seemed best suited amongst the thingmen should look after the godord.

  42 Thorkel Scratcher, son of Thorgrim, was both big and strong; he was twelve years old when these events were taking place. Thorgrim did not acknowledge him as his son, but Thorkel was much braver than Thorgrim’s legitimate sons. Thorkel Silver from Helgavatn was a great shape-shifter and also wise in the ways of magic. He was very wealthy, without friends, disliked by many men, and yet a very worthy fellow.

  The same day on which the meeting about the godord had been arranged at Karnsa, the wife of Thorkel Silver said, ‘What do you intend to do today?’

  Thorkel replied, ‘Go to the meeting and be a godi by the time I return home this evening.’

  ‘I do not want you to go,’ she said, ‘intending to become chieftain of the Vatnsdal people, because this will not be granted to you, and indeed you are not cut out for it.’

  He replied, ‘Your advice would count in other matters, but not in this.’

  Klakka-Orm also intended to attend the meeting, and also Thorgrim from Karnsa, Ingimund’s grandson. Thorgrim was considered best suited for the chieftain’s role because of his kinship with the Vatnsdal people, but it was to be settled by lot, because many others thought themselves well suited. This meeting was set for the last month of winter at Klakka-Orm’s homestead in Forsaeludal.

  Thorkel Silver had a dream on the night before the meeting, and told his wife Signy that he thought he was riding down through Vatnsdal on a red horse, and he hardly seemed to be touching the ground, ‘and I interpret this to mean that something red is burning ahead, and this bodes well for my honour’.

  Signy said that she thought otherwise – ‘this seems to me to be an evil dream’; and said that the horse was called Nightmare and a mare is a man’s fetch; she said also that red can be seen if things are to turn out bloody, ‘and it may be that you will be killed at the meeting if you intend to win the godord, because there are enough people who would begrudge you this’.

  Thorkel acted as if he had not heard this, and prepared himself well
for his journey as regards clothing and weapons, for he was a very showy fellow; and he arrived at the last moment.

  Thorgrim arrived early in the day and sat on the high seat next to Orm; he had never acknowledged that he was the father of Thorkel Scratcher. Thorkel was playing on the floor with other children and was both big and strong and a very handsome youth. He stopped in front of Thorgrim and gazed at him for a very long time and at the small axe which he was holding. Thorgrim asked why this slave-woman’s son was staring at him as he was. Thorkel said that it was no great thrill for him even though he was looking at him.

  Thorgrim asked, ‘What are you prepared to do, Scratcher, first in return for my giving you the axe, because I see that you like it very much; and also in return for my acknowledging kinship with you?’

  Thorkel asked him to name his terms.

  Thorgrim said, ‘You must bury the axe in Silver’s head, so that he never gets the Vatnsdal godord; it seems to me that you would then have shown yourself worthy of Vatnsdal kinship.’

  Thorkel said that he would do this. Thorgrim instructed him that he should behave as badly as possible with the other boys. Silver always sat with his chin in his hand and his legs crossed. Thorkel was to rush off into the mud, and then hurry back inside and brush against Silver’s clothing and see whether he became angry.

  They now discussed the godord and reached no agreement; everyone wanted his own way. The lots were then placed in a small cloth and it was always Silver’s lot which came up, because of his magic powers. Thorgrim then went off and met Thorkel Scratcher in the doorway with the boys.

  Thorgrim said, ‘I now want you to pay for the axe.’

  Thorkel said, ‘I long to own the axe, and I will now pay for it in full, though not in the way that you would wish.’

  Thorgrim replied, ‘More than one method of payment will be acceptable.’

  Thorkel said, ‘Do you want me to kill Silver now?’

  ‘Yes,’ said Thorgrim.

  Silver’s lot had secured the godord.

  Thorkel Scratcher came into the main room and brushed past Silver and bumped into his foot; and Silver kicked him away and called him a slave-woman’s son. Thorkel leapt up on to the seat right by him, and buried the axe in his head, and Thorkel Silver died instantly, and Thorkel said that he had not had to do too much to acquire the axe.

  Thorgrim said that the boy had been sorely harassed, ‘and he has not stood up to it well; but has now shown himself to be very much a Vatnsdal man, and I will now acknowledge that I am your father’.

  Thorgrim then took over the godord and was called the Godi of Karnsa. A settlement was agreed for the killing of Silver because his sons were young. Thorkel went home to Karnsa with his father and asked permission to go abroad and find out how things would turn out if he met up with his kinsman Earl Sigurd, son of Hlodver. Thorgrim said that he should have whatever he wanted.

  43 There was a Norwegian named Bjorn who owned a ship which was ready for sea. Thorkel Scratcher went abroad with him. They arrived in the Orkney Islands. At that time Sigurd was earl in the islands. Bjorn was known to the earl and asked him to offer hospitality to Thorkel and himself, and said that he was a man of good family, very worthy, and far superior to Icelandic men. The earl said that he would offer them hospitality and asked about Thorkel’s kinsfolk; Thorkel told him who he was but the earl paid little attention. The earl then made them welcome. Thorkel seemed stubborn in the eyes of the earl’s men; he never left his place unless the earl went somewhere. He was very faithful to him.

  Once, in the spring, the earl’s men set off from the hall for the games, but the earl remained behind with a few men and said, ‘You are more single-minded than most other men, Thorkel, in that you do not go off to the games; now what was it that you said to me about your kinsfolk?’

  Thorkel spoke of his family, and the earl took this in and said, ‘You must be related to me, but you are very slow in letting this be known.’

  The earl’s respect for him grew, and during the following summer he went raiding and asked Thorkel whether he wanted to go with him. He replied that he would like to go with him if this was the earl’s wish.

  They raided far and wide that summer. Once, when they made an attack in Scotland and returned to their ships, the earl asked how many men were missing. This was then looked into and Thorkel alone was missing; he had been on the earl’s ship. The earl’s men said that such a lazy lout was no loss. The earl asked them to go at once and look for him; and so they did. They found Thorkel by an oak tree in a forest clearing; two men were attacking him and four others lay dead by him. When the earl’s men arrived, Thorkel’s attackers fled. The earl asked what had delayed him.

  Thorkel said, ‘I have heard you say that men should run from ship to shore; but never that one should run back to the ships in such a way that each man abandons the next.’

  The earl replied, ‘You speak the truth, kinsman, and henceforth this is how things will be; anyone running away from the standard on land will have no share of the spoils.’

  The earl asked whether the men who lay dead beside him were natives or his own men.

  Thorkel said that they were natives.

  He said that he had gone past a castle, ‘and at the place where I was passing some stones fell from the walls, and inside there I found a sizeable store of treasure; and the men in the castle saw this and attacked me and our fight finished up in the way that you can see’.

  Then, in front of his men, the earl commended Thorkel’s bravery. He then asked how much treasure there was. Thorkel said that it was worth twenty marks of silver. The earl said that Thorkel and no one else should have it all. Thorkel said that the earl should have it all, including his own share. The earl then said that they should both have it, and this treasure was not shared out.

  The earl held Thorkel in much esteem because of that exploit. He was with the earl for two winters, and then Thorkel felt a longing to go to Iceland and told the earl this.

  He replied, ‘I believe that you will be a source of honour to your kinsfolk.’

  He became one of the earl’s men, and the earl gave him a gold-inlaid axe and fine clothing and said that he should remain his friend. The earl gave him a trading ship along with whatever cargo he might choose. The earl sent a gold ring weighing half a mark to Thorgrim to pay for Nereid’s freedom. As a gesture of kinship he sent to Nereid a complete and splendid woman’s outfit. Thorkel then set sail and his journey went well. He brought his ship into Hunavatnsos. Thorgrim the Godi of Karnsa rode to the ship and greeted his son warmly and invited him to stay with him, and Thorkel accepted. Thorgrim granted Nereid her freedom just as the earl had requested. A little later Thorgrim fell sick and died and, in accordance with the law, his legitimate sons inherited his estate.

  Thororm was the brother of Klakka-Orm, father of Thorgrim, who was the father of Thorkel. Thororm went to meet Thorkel and invited him to his homestead; and he accepted the invitation. Thorkel was an agreeable and good-humoured man.

  44 There was a man called Thorgils who lived at Svinavatn; he had a wife and they had four sons, of whom two are mentioned by name – Thorvald and Orm. The brother of Thorgils had a son named Glaedir; his mother was the sister of Gudmund the Powerful of Modruvellir. Glaedir was a flamboyant individual, a chatterbox, a dimwit and a great blusterer. Father and son, Thorgils and Thorvald, went to Klakka-Orm to ask for the hand of Sigrid, his daughter. This was well received, and the wedding feast was fixed for the Winter Nights in Forsaeludal. There were few men at home and much work to do, both searching for sheep and pigs on the mountain, and in taking care of many another task. Thorkel offered to go up the mountain with the workmen. Orm said that he would like him to. They then set off, and made slow progress because the beasts were shy. No one searched more energetically than Thorkel. The swine seemed especially difficult to deal with. Thorkel was tireless in his efforts, and always volunteered for those tasks which other people thought were the worst.

&nbs
p; When they were getting the food ready, Thorkel said, ‘Would it not be a good idea for us to have some piglet to eat?’

  Thorkel took one and prepared it for the table. They were all agreed that Thorkel was a help to them in everything. They returned home.

  There was a man named Avaldi who was with Klakka-Orm; he was the son of Ingjald. He ran the farm and Hild his wife worked indoors; she was the daughter of Eyvind the Proud.

  Shortly before the wedding was to take place, Glaedir came from the East Fjords and heard all the news and the plans.

  Glaedir also said that he heard other news – ‘and that is the mountain journey of Thorkel Scratcher – how he was chosen for herding the swine’.

  He said that this was right and proper for a slave-woman’s son, and said that he had killed a piglet which had only the previous night drunk from the teat, and had lain beside the boar – ‘because he felt cold like any other bitch’.

  Thorgils said, ‘That is a foolish joke which you have made; Thorkel is said to have behaved in the most proper way, both there and elsewhere.’

  ‘It seems to me that this has turned out shamefully for him,’ said Glaedir.

  Men arrived for the wedding.

  Then Thorkel said to Orm, his foster-father, ‘I will offer hospitality to people and be on hand for any work or arrangements.’

  Orm said that he would gladly accept this offer. Thorkel organized the feast splendidly. Orm and his men sat on the upper high seat, and Thorgils and his followers sat opposite on the lower high seat. Thorkel saw to the guests attentively and dealt with them with due deference. The Svinadal folk laughed at him a good deal and said that the slave’s son was now grand enough. Thorkel said that it would be more courteous to reward such hospitality with good humour and a cheery word rather than with ridicule or abuse.

  Glaedir said that he had done many great deeds, ‘and well may you boast mightily of the fact; it was but a short time ago that you killed the piglet which had sucked the teat for only one night – that is just your kind of job’.