That summer a ship made land at Dagverdarnes and was drawn ashore there. Bolli lodged twelve of the merchant crew at Tunga over the winter and provided for them generously. They all remained there until Christmas had passed. Bolli then intended to make his promised visits to the north, had horses shod and made preparations for the journey. They were a party of eighteen, with all of the merchant sailors bearing arms. Bolli was wearing a black cape with his splendid spear, King’s Gift, in his hand. They rode northward until they reached Marbaeli, where Thord gave them a good welcome. They spent three nights there in festive hospitality. Then they rode to Miklabaer, where Arnor received them warmly. The festivities there were superb.
Arnor then spoke: ‘You have done well, Bolli, in paying me this visit. In doing so, I feel you have declared your great comradeship for me. And no better gifts will remain here with me than the ones you accept at parting. My friendship is also yours for the asking. But I suspect not everyone in this district feels well inclined towards you. Some of them, especially the Hjaltasons, feel they have been robbed of their honour. I intend to follow you north as far as the Heljardal heath when you leave here.’
Bolli answered, ‘I wish to thank you, Arnor my host, for all the honour you have shown me, and it will certainly improve our company if you ride along with us. We plan on proceeding peacefully through this district, but if anyone should make any attempt to attack us, we may well repay them in kind for their trouble.’
Arnor then got ready to accompany them, and they set out on their way.
6 To return to Thorvald, he spoke to his brother Thord: ‘You likely know that Bolli is now here in the district making visits. There are eighteen of them altogether in his party at Arnor’s, and they will be heading north over Heljardal heath.’
‘I know that,’ Thord replied.
Thorvald said, ‘The idea of Bolli passing by under our noses, without our making any attempt to confront him, irks me. I don’t know of anyone who has done more to diminish my honour than he has.’
Thord said, ‘You’re a great one for getting more involved in things than I care to. This is one road to be left untravelled, if I am the one to decide. I think it’s far from certain that Bolli won’t know how to answer any attack you make.’
‘You won’t talk me out of it,’ Thorvald replied, ‘but you must decide your own course.’
Thord said, ‘You won’t see me sitting at home, brother, if you set out. And I’ll give you the credit for any honour we reap from the journey, or any other consequences.’
Thorvald began collecting men for the journey and formed a party of eighteen. They set out towards the route of Bolli and his party where they intended to wait in ambush.
Arnor and Bolli rode their way with their companions.
When they were only a short distance from the Hjaltasons, Bolli said to Arnor, ‘Isn’t it best if you turn back now? You have given us a more than fitting escort, and the Hjaltasons won’t try any treachery with me.’
Arnor said, ‘I won’t turn back, because something tells me Thorvald is intending to seek you out. What is it I see moving there? Aren’t those shields shining? That will be the Hjaltasons, and we will see to it that they will get no honour from this journey as it can be taken as a plot against your life.’
Thorvald and his brother and their men now saw that Bolli and his party were anything but fewer than they themselves were and realized that any show of aggression on their behalf would put them in a bad position. Their best course appeared to be to turn back, since they were not able to carry out their intentions.
Thord then spoke, ‘Things have now turned out as I feared, that this journey would make a mockery of us and we’d have done better to sit at home. We have shown our hostility to men and accomplished nothing.’
Bolli and his companions continued on their way. Arnor accompanied them up on to the heath and did not leave them until the route began to slope downwards to the north. He then returned home, while they continued down through Svarfadardal until they reached the farm called Skeid. There lived a man named Helgi, who was ill-tempered and not of good family, though wealthy enough. His wife Sigrid, who was a kinswoman of Thorstein Hellu-Narfason, was the more outstanding of the two.
Bolli and his party noticed a store of hay nearby. They dismounted and began to take hay to give their horses, taking rather little, and Bolli restrained them even more.
‘I don’t know,’ he said, ‘what sort of nature this farmer has.’
They took handfuls of hay and let the horses eat them.
One of the farm workers came out of the house, and then returned indoors and said, ‘There are men at your haystack, master, trying the hay.’
Sigrid, the farmer’s wife, said, ‘The only ones who would do that are men on whom one shouldn’t spare the hay.’
Helgi sprang to his feet and said furiously he would never let her allow others to steal his hay. He ran out immediately as if he were crazed and came up to where the men had paused in their journey. Bolli got to his feet when he saw the man approach, supporting himself with his spear, King’s Gift.
When Helgi reached him, he spoke: ‘Who are these thieves that harass me so, stealing what is mine and tearing apart my haystack for their mounts?’
Bolli told him his name.
Helgi replied, ‘That’s an unsuitable name and you must be an unjust man.’
‘That may well be true,’ said Bolli, ‘but you will have your justice.’
Bolli then drove the horses away from the hay, and told his men they would stay no longer.
Helgi said, ‘I declare that what you have taken has been stolen from me and you have committed an offence liable to outlawry.’
‘You will want us, farmer,’ said Bolli, ‘to make you compensation so that you will not prosecute us. I will pay you double the price of your hay.’
‘That’s nowhere near enough,’ he answered. ‘My demands will become more rather than less when our ways part.’
‘Are there any objects of ours, farmer, that you would accept as compensation?’ Bolli said.
‘I think there might be a possibility,’ Helgi answered, ‘that I would have that gold-inlaid spear which you hold in your hand.’
‘I’m not sure,’ Bolli said, ‘whether I care to give it up. I had other plans for it. And you can hardly ask me to hand over my weapon to you. Take instead as much money as you feel does you honour.’
‘There’s no chance of that,’ Helgi said, ‘and it’s best that you be made to answer properly for what you have done.’
Helgi then pronounced his summons and charged Bolli with theft and made it liable to outlawry. Bolli stood there listening with a slight smile.
When Helgi had finished his accusation, he asked, ‘When did you leave home?’
Bolli told him and the farmer then said, ‘In that case I consider you to have lived on others for more than a fortnight.’
Helgi then pronounced another summons, charging Bolli with vagrancy.
When he had finished, Bolli said, ‘You’re making much of this, Helgi, and I’d better make a move against you.’
Bolli then pronounced a summons, charging Helgi with slander, and another summons accusing him of trying to get hold of his property by treachery. His companions said they should kill this rogue, but Bolli said they should not. Bolli made the offences liable to outlawry.
After concluding the summons he said, ‘You will take this knife and belt from me to Helgi’s wife, as I’m told she spoke up for us.’
Bolli and his men then rode off, leaving Helgi behind. They came to Thorstein’s farm at Hals where they were given a fine welcome and a goodly feast awaited them.
7 Helgi, on the other hand, returned to the farmhouse at Skeid and told his wife of the dealings between him and Bolli.
‘I have no idea,’ he said, ‘what I should do to deal with a man like Bolli, as I’m no man of law. And I don’t have many who will support me in the case.’
Sigrid his wife sa
id, ‘It’s a proper fool you’ve made of yourself. You have been dealing with the noblest of men and you made a spectacle of yourself. You’ll end up as you deserve, losing all your wealth and your life as well.’
Helgi listened to her words, which he found rather hard to take, but he suspected they would prove true, as he was a cowardly wretch, despite his bad temper and foolishness. He saw no way out of the impasse he had talked himself into and became more than a little cowed by it all.
Sigrid had a horse sought and rode to seek out her kinsman Thorstein Narfason. Bolli and his men had arrived by then. She asked to speak to Thorstein privately and told him how the situation stood.
‘This has turned out very badly,’ Thorstein replied.
She told him as well how handsome Bolli’s offers had been, and how stupidly Helgi had acted. She asked Thorstein to use all his influence to see to it that things were straightened out. Afterwards she returned home, and Thorstein went to speak to Bolli.
‘What’s this I hear, my friend?’ he said. ‘Has Helgi of Skeid been provoking you unjustly? I want to ask you to drop the charges and dismiss the incident, at my request, as the words of simpletons are not worthy of notice.’
Bolli answered, ‘It’s true enough that this is nothing of worth. Nor do I intend to let it upset me.’
‘Then I want to ask you,’ said Thorstein, ‘to drop the charges against him for my sake, and accept my friendship in return.’
‘There’s no threat of disaster right away,’ Bolli said. ‘I intend to take things calmly and we’ll wait until spring.’
Thorstein spoke: ‘Then I will show you how important it is to me to have my way in this. I will give you the best horse here in the district, and his herd, twelve altogether.’
Bolli answered, ‘It’s a fine offer, but you don’t have to go to such lengths. I wasn’t upset by it, nor will it be upsetting when the judgement comes.’
‘The truth is,’ said Thorstein, ‘I want to offer you self-judgement in the case.’
Bolli answered, ‘I expect the truth to be that there is no use making the offer, because I do not wish to accept a settlement in the case.’
‘Then you’re choosing the course that will prove bad for all of us,’ said Thorstein. ‘Although Helgi is hardly a worthy man, I am related to him by marriage. I won’t deliver him into your hands to be killed since you refuse to pay heed to my words. And as far as the charges that Helgi brought against you, I can hardly see that they will do you honour by being presented at the assembly.’
Thorstein and Bolli then parted rather coldly. Bolli rode off with his companions, and there is no mention of him receiving parting gifts.
8 Bolli and his companions arrived at the farm of Gudmund the Powerful at Modruvellir. He came out to meet them and welcomed them warmly and was in the best of spirits. They remained there a fortnight and enjoyed festive hospitality.
Gudmund then said to Bolli, ‘Is there any truth to the rumour that you and Thorstein have had a disagreement?’
Bolli said there was little truth in it and changed the subject.
Gudmund said, ‘What route do you intend to take homeward?’
‘The same one,’ answered Bolli.
Gudmund said, ‘I would advise you against it, as I’m told that you and Thorstein parted rather stiffly. Stay here with me instead and ride south in the spring, and let things run their course then.’
Bolli said he did not intend to alter his travel plans because of their threats.
‘While that fool Helgi was carrying on so stupidly, speaking one slanderous charge after another, and hoping to take my spear King’s Gift off me for a mere tuft of hay, I thought to myself that I would see to it that he got what he deserved for those words. I have other plans for my spear and intend to give it to you, along with the gold arm ring that the emperor gave me. I feel that the treasures are better off in your hands than in Helgi’s clutches.’
Gudmund thanked him for the gifts, and said, ‘The gifts you receive in return are much less worthy than they should be.’
Gudmund gave Bolli a shield decorated with gold, a gold arm ring and a cape made of the costliest material and embroidered with gold threads wherever this could add to its beauty. All of the gifts were very fine.
Gudmund then said, ‘I think you’re doing the wrong thing, Bolli, choosing to ride through Svarfadardal.’
Bolli replied that no harm would come of it. They then rode off, with Bolli and Gudmund parting the best of friends, and he and his party rode north along Galmarstrond.
That evening they came to the farm known as Krossar, where a man named Ottar lived. He was standing outside, a bald man wearing an outer jacket of skin. Ottar greeted them well and invited them to stay the night, and they accepted. They were waited upon well and the farmer was in the best of spirits. They spent the night there.
When Bolli and his party were ready to leave the next morning, Ottar said, ‘You have done me an honour, Bolli, in visiting my farm. I would also like to do you a small favour, give you a gold arm ring, and would be grateful if you accept it. Here is also a ring to accompany it.’
Bolli accepted the gifts and thanked the farmer. Then Ottar mounted his horse and rode ahead to show them the way, as there had been a light fall of snow during the night. They continued on their way up to Svarfadardal.
They had not ridden far when Ottar turned back to them and said to Bolli, ‘I want to show you how much I desire your friendship. Here is another arm ring of gold which I wish to give you. I would like to be of help to you in any way I can, as you are going to need it.’
Bolli said the farmer was treating him far too generously, ‘but I will accept the ring all the same’.
‘You’re doing the right thing,’ said the farmer.
9 To return to Thorstein of Hals. When he expected Bolli to be returning southward again, he collected a party of men and intended to lie in ambush for Bolli, wishing to alter the situation between him and Helgi. Thorstein and his men, who made up a party of thirty, rode out to the river Svarfadardalsa where they took up position.
A man named Ljot lived at Vellir in Svarfadardal. He was a prominent chieftain, a popular man and much involved in lawsuits. For everyday pursuits he wore a dark brown tunic and carried a light pole axe, while if he were preparing for a fight he had a black tunic and a broad-bladed axe, with which he appeared more than a little intimidating.
Bolli and his men rode westward in Svarfadardal. Ottar followed them past the Hals farm and out to the river. There Thorstein and his men were waiting for them, and when Ottar saw the ambush he responded abruptly, turned his horse and rode off to one side at top speed. Bolli and his party rode on boldly, and when Thorstein and his men saw this they sprang forward. They were on opposite sides of the river. The ice had broken up along its banks, but there was still a frozen patch down the middle. Thorstein and his men ran out on to the ice.
Helgi of Skeid was also there and urged the men on energetically, saying it was time to see whether Bolli’s ambition and eagerness would be enough to carry the day, or whether there were any men of the north there who would dare to take him on.
‘There’s no reason to hesitate in killing all of them. It will also,’ said Helgi, ‘deter others from attacking us.’
Bolli heard Helgi’s words and saw where he had advanced out on the ice. He threw his spear at Helgi and it struck him in the middle of his body, driving him backwards into the river. The spear struck the bank on the opposite side where it stuck fast, with Helgi hanging from it down into the water. A hard battle then began. Bolli pressed forward so boldly that men nearby were forced to give way. Thorstein then came forward against Bolli, and when they came together Bolli struck Thorstein a blow on the shoulder, giving him a severe wound. Thorstein received another wound on the leg. The struggle was a fierce one. Bolli himself had been wounded but not severely.
The story now turns to Ottar.
He rode up to Vellir, to Ljot, and when they met Ottar spoke
: ‘No cause to sit about, Ljot,’ he said, ‘what’s at stake is to prove yourself a man of honour.’
‘What would that involve, Ottar?’
‘I expect them to be fighting here down at the river, Thorstein of Hals and Bolli, and it would be a most fortunate thing to put a stop to their hostilities.’
Ljot said, ‘You’ve proved your worth more often than once.’
He reacted quickly and he and several others hurried back with Ottar. When they reached the river, Bolli and the others were fighting furiously. Three of Thorstein’s men had been killed. Ljot and his men quickly ran between the fighters and held them back from attacking each other.
Then Ljot spoke: ‘You are to separate at once,’ he said; ‘more than enough harm has been done. I intend to decide the terms of a settlement between you in this case, and if either of you refuses, he will be attacked.’
Ljot’s decisive action caused them to cease their fighting, and both sides agreed that he should decide the terms of settlement in the dispute between them. They then went their separate ways, Thorstein returned home and Ljot invited Bolli and his men home to his farm, which they accepted. Bolli and his men rode up to Ljot’s farm Vellir.
The site where they had fought is known as Hestanes. Ottar did not take his leave of Bolli and his party until they had reached Ljot’s farm. Bolli gave him generous gifts at their parting and thanked him warmly for his assistance. He also promised Ottar his friendship. Ottar returned home to his farm at Krossar.
10 After the fight at Hestanes, Bolli and all his men had returned home with Ljot to Vellir, where Ljot bandaged their wounds. They healed quickly because they were well looked after. When they had recovered from their wounds, Ljot called together a large assembly. He and Bolli rode to the assembly, as did Thorstein of Hals, along with his companions.
When the assembly had convened, Ljot spoke: ‘No longer will I postpone the announcement of the settlement I have arrived at in the dispute between Thorstein of Hals and Bolli. To begin with, Helgi is deemed to have fallen without right to compensation because of his slanderous remarks and behaviour towards Bolli. The wounds received by Thorstein and Bolli will balance each other out. But for those three of Thorstein’s men who were slain Bolli will pay compensation. And for his attempt on Bolli’s life, Thorstein will pay him the value of fifteen hundred three-ell lengths of homespun. When this is concluded they will be fully reconciled.’
The Sagas of the Icelanders Page 61