Njal's Saga

by AnonYMous

  Egil asked his Norwegian guests to come along. They said they had no quarrel with Gunnar – ‘and you must need a lot of help,’ said Thorir, ‘if it takes such a horde to attack three men.’

  Egil left them in anger. His wife said to Thorir, ‘My daughter Gudrun was wrong to put aside her pride and sleep with you, if you don’t dare to go along with your father-in-law. You’re just a coward.’

  ‘I’ll go with your husband,’ he said, ‘but neither of us will come back.’

  He went to his companion Thorgrim and said, ‘Take the keys to my chests since I won’t be unlocking them any more. I want you to take as much of our property as you wish and leave Iceland, and don’t think of avenging me. If you don’t leave, it will be your death.’

  Thorir gathered his weapons and took his place in their band.

  62

  Now to return to Gunnar: he rode east across the Thjorsa river, and when he was only a short way beyond the river he became very sleepy. He asked his companions to stop, and they did so. He fell into a deep sleep but slept restlessly.

  Kolskegg said, ‘Gunnar is having a dream.’

  Hjort said, ‘I’d like to wake him.’

  ‘Don’t do that,’ said Kolskegg. ‘Let him finish his dream.’

  Gunnar lay there for a long time and then threw off his cloak, and he was very warm.

  Kolskegg said, ‘What were you dreaming, brother?’

  ‘I dreamed something,’ said Gunnar, ‘that would have kept me from leaving Tunga with so few men, if I had dreamed it there.’

  Kolskegg said, ‘Tell us the dream.’

  ‘I dreamed,’ said Gunnar, ‘that I was riding past Knafaholar. There I saw many wolves, and they attacked me, but I got away and down to the Ranga river. There they attacked again, from all sides, and we defended ourselves. I shot all those who were in front, until they came too close for me to use my bow. So I drew my sword and swung it with one hand, and with the other hand I thrust with my halberd. I didn’t shield myself, and I didn’t know what was shielding me. I killed many wolves, and you were by my side, Kolskegg, but they trampled Hjort down and tore open his chest, and one wolf had his heart in his mouth. I was so angry that I sliced the wolf in two, just behind the shoulder, and after that the wolves fled. Now, brother Hjort, it’s my advice that you ride back west to Tunga.’

  ‘That I won’t do,’ said Hjort. ‘Though I know my death to be certain, I will stay with you.’

  They rode on east and came to Knafaholar. Kolskegg said, ‘Do you see all those spears coming up behind the hills, Gunnar, and men with weapons?’

  ‘It’s no surprise to me,’ said Gunnar, ‘that my dream is coming true.’

  ‘What are we to do now?’ asked Kolskegg. ‘I guess you don’t want to run away from them.’

  ‘They won’t be able to taunt us with that,’ said Gunnar. ‘Let’s ride down to that point of land by the Ranga river. That’s a place to defend ourselves.’

  They rode down to the point and prepared to fight. When they rode past, Kol said, ‘Are you going to run away, Gunnar?’

  Kolskegg answered, ‘Ask that when this day is done.’

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  Starkad then urged his men on; they headed toward those who were on the point of land. Sigurd Swine-head was out in front and was holding a small round shield, and a hunting-spear in the other hand. Gunnar saw him and shot at him with his bow. Sigurd raised his shield when he saw the arrow flying high, but it went through the shield and into his eye and out at the back of his neck. That was the first slaying.

  Gunnar shot another arrow at Ulfhedin, Starkad’s overseer, and it struck him in the waist and he fell at the feet of a farmer, and the farmer tripped over him. Kolskegg threw a stone and it hit the head of the farmer, and that was his death.

  Then Starkad said, ‘We won’t get anywhere as long as Gunnar has the use of his bow, so let’s make a good and swift charge.’

  They all urged each other on. Gunnar defended himself with bow and arrows as long as he could; then he threw them down, took his halberd and sword and fought with both hands. The battle was fierce for a long time. Gunnar and Kolskegg killed many men.

  Then Thorgeir Starkadarson said, ‘I vowed to bring Hildigunn your head, Gunnar.’

  ‘She can’t have set much store by that,’ said Gunnar, ‘but still, you’ll have to come closer.’

  Thorgeir said to his brothers, ‘Let’s all charge him together – he has no shield, and we’ll have his life in our hands.’

  Bork and Thorkel ran forward and were quicker than Thorgeir. Bork took a swing at Gunnar. Gunnar struck back so hard with his halberd that the sword flew out of Bork’s hand. Then he saw Thorkel on his other side, within striking distance. Gunnar had pulled back a little; he made a sweep with his sword and hit Thorkel on the neck, and the head flew off.

  Kol Egilsson said, ‘Let me have a go at Kolskegg. I’ve been saying for a long time that we two would be a fair match.’

  ‘Now’s our chance to find out,’ said Kolskegg.

  Kol thrust his spear at him. Kolskegg had just slain a man and had his hands full and so could not get his shield up, and the spear hit him on the outside of the thigh and went through it. Kolskegg moved quickly and stepped towards him and struck him on the thigh with his short sword and cut off his leg and spoke: ‘Did that hit you or not?’

  ‘This is what I get,’ said Kol, ‘for not shielding myself ’ – and he stood for a while on his other leg and looked at the stump.

  Kolskegg spoke: ‘You don’t need to look: it’s just as you think, the leg is gone.’

  Then Kol fell down dead. When Egil saw that he rushed at Gunnar and swung at him. Gunnar lunged with his halberd and it went into his waist. He lifted him up on the halberd and flung him out into the Ranga.

  Then Starkad said, ‘You’re quite useless, Thorir the Norwegian, if you don’t take part. Egil, your host and father-in-law, has been slain.’

  Thorir sprang to his feet and was very angry. Hjort had caused the death of two men. The Norwegian charged at him and hacked at his chest. Hjort fell down dead at once.

  Gunnar saw this and threw himself at the Norwegian with a hacking blow and cut him in two at the waist. Shortly after that he lunged at Bork with his halberd; it went into his waist and through him and into the ground. Kolskegg then cut off the head of Hauk Egilsson, and Gunnar cut off the arm of Ottar Egilsson at the elbow.

  Then Starkad said, ‘Let’s flee – these aren’t men we’re dealing with.’

  Gunnar spoke: ‘Telling stories about this won’t be easy unless there’s something on you to show that you’ve been in battle.’

  Then he charged at Starkad and his son Thorgeir and gave them both bloody wounds. After that they parted, and Gunnar and his brothers had wounded many of those who got away.

  In this battle fourteen men died, and Hjort was the fifteenth.

  Gunnar rode home with Hjort laid out on his shield, and he was buried in a mound there. Many people mourned his loss, for he had been well liked.

  Starkad and Thorgeir came home, and Hildigunn treated their wounds and said, ‘You would give a great deal now not to have got on Gunnar’s bad side.’

  ‘We certainly would,’ said Starkad.

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  Steinvor1 at Sandgil asked Thorgrim the Norwegian to take care of her property and not leave Iceland, but rather to stay and remember the death of his comrade and kinsman.

  He answered, ‘My comrade Thorir predicted that I would die at the hands of Gunnar if I stayed here, and he must have foreseen that, just as he foresaw his own death.’

  She said, ‘I will give you my daughter Gudrun and all the property’

  ‘I didn’t know that you would pay that much,’ he said.

  They made an agreement that he would marry Gudrun, and the wedding took place that summer.

  Gunnar rode to Bergthorshvol, and Kolskegg went with him. Njal was outside with his sons, and they went forward to receive them and welcomed them warmly. T
hen they went apart for a talk.

  Gunnar said, ‘I have come to ask for your support and sound advice.’

  Njal said it was his due.

  ‘I have fallen into deep trouble and killed many men,’ said Gunnar, ‘and I want to know what you think I should do.’

  ‘Many would say’ said Njal, ‘that you have been pushed hard. Now give me time to come up with a plan.’

  Njal walked off alone and thought the matter over and then came back and said, ‘I’ve thought of something, but I expect it will take boldness and daring. Thorgeir has made my kinswoman Thorfinna pregnant, and I’ll turn over to you the lawsuit for seduction, and I’ll also let you take over a second full outlawry case, against Starkad for cutting trees in my woods on Thrihyrning ridge, and you will prosecute both these cases. Go to the place where you fought and dig up the bodies and name witnesses to the fatal wounds and then declare all the dead men outlaws because they attacked you with the intent to give you and your brothers wounds and a swift death. If this is tried at the Thing and it is objected that you had previously struck Thorgeir and are thus barred from prosecuting your own suit or those of others, I will answer and say that at the Thingskalar Assembly I restored your right to prosecute both your own case and those of others, and that will quash the objection. You must also go and see Tyrfing at Berjanes, and he will turn over to you a suit against Onund at Trollaskog, who is the one to take action for the slaying of his brother Egil.’

  Gunnar then rode home.

  A few days later he and the sons of Njal rode to where the bodies were and dug up all those that had been buried. Gunnar demanded a sentence of outlawry against them on charges of assault and conspiracy to kill and then rode home.

  65

  That same autumn Valgard the Grey came from abroad to his home at Hof. Thorgeir Starkadarson went to visit him and Mord and told them how preposterous it was for Gunnar to declare that all the men he had killed were outlaws. Valgard said it must have been at Njal’s advice and that this would not be the end of the advice Njal had given him. Thorgeir asked Valgard and Mord for help and backing, but they held out for a long time and asked for a high sum. Finally they agreed on a plan: Mord was to ask for the hand of Thorkatla, the daughter of Gizur the White, and Thorgeir was to ride west over the rivers with Valgard and Mord at once.

  The next day they rode off, twelve in all, and came to Mosfell. They were given a warm reception, and stayed there overnight. Then they brought up the marriage offer with Gizur; the outcome was that they made an agreement and that the wedding would take place at Mosfell two weeks later. Then they rode home.

  Later they rode to the wedding. Many guests from the neighbourhood had already arrived, and the feast went well. Afterwards, Thorkatla went home with Mord and took over the household, and Valgard went abroad that summer.

  Mord urged Thorgeir to start a lawsuit against Gunnar. Thorgeir went to see Onund and asked him to start a suit for the slaying of his brother Egil and Egil’s sons – ‘and I will start a suit for the slaying of my brothers and for the bloody wounds to myself and my father.’

  Onund said he was ready to do this. They went and announced the slayings and summoned to the scene of the fight a panel of nine men who were neighbours.

  News of the starting of the lawsuit reached Hlidarendi. Gunnar rode to see Njal and told him and asked what he thought should be done.

  ‘You must now,’ said Njal, ‘summon your own neighbours to the scene of the fight and name witnesses and choose Kol as the slayer of your brother Hjort, for this is lawful.1 Then you must give notice of a suit for homicide against Kol, even though he’s dead. Then you must name witnesses and summon neighbours to ride to the Althing to testify whether Kol and his companions were on the spot and in the attack when Hjort was slain. You must also summon Thorgeir for seduction, and likewise Onund of Trollaskog in the case which Tyrfing will turn over to you.’

  Gunnar went ahead with all the matters in which he had been advised by Njal. People thought this an odd way to start proceedings. These cases came to the Thing.

  Gunnar rode to the Thing, as did Njal and his sons and the Sigfussons. Gunnar had also sent a man to his brothers-in-law2 to tell them to ride to the Thing with a large number of men, for this was going to be a hard-fought case. A large force gathered from the west.

  Mord Valgardsson rode to the Thing, and also Runolf of Dal, the men from Thrihyrning, and Onund of Trollaskog.

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  When they came to the Thing they joined company with Gizur the White and Geir the Godi. Gunnar and the Sigfussons and the Njalssons all went in one group and moved along so briskly that people had to get out of their way to keep from being knocked down. And nothing was talked about all over the Thing as much as this great lawsuit.

  Gunnar went to meet his brothers-in-law, and they greeted him warmly. They asked him about the battle, and he told them about it in detail and with fairness and then told them what he had done since then.

  Olaf said, ‘It’s worth a lot to have Njal standing by you with good advice.’

  Gunnar said he would never be able to pay that back and asked them for their help and backing, and they said it was his due.

  The suits from both sides then came before the court, and each side presented its case. Mord asked how it was that a man like Gunnar, who should be outlawed for what he did to Thorgeir, could be bringing a suit.

  Njal answered, ‘Were you at the Thingskalar Assembly last autumn?’

  ‘Certainly I was,’ said Mord.

  ‘Did you hear,’ said Njal, ‘that Gunnar made them an offer of full compensation?’

  ‘Certainly I heard it,’ said Mord.

  ‘At that time,’ said Njal, ‘I restored Gunnar’s rights to carry on all legal matters.’

  ‘That’s lawful,’ said Mord, ‘but what reason was there for Gunnar to charge Kol with the slaying of Hjort, when the Norwegian killed him?’

  ‘That was lawful too, since he chose him as the slayer before witnesses,’ said Njal.

  ‘I suppose that’s correct,’ said Mord, ‘but by what right did Gunnar proclaim them all outlaws?’

  ‘You don’t have to ask that,’ said Njal, ‘since they set out to give bloody wounds and cause death.’

  ‘But this did not happen to Gunnar,’ said Mord.

  ‘Gunnar had two brothers, Kolskegg and Hjort,’ said Njal. ‘One of them was killed and the other wounded.’

  ‘What you say is according to the law,’ said Mord, ‘but it’s hard to accept.’

  Then Hjalti Skeggjason of Thjorsardal1 came forward and spoke: ‘I have taken no part in these lawsuits of yours, but now I want to ask you, Gunnar, how much you will do at my request and for my friendship.’

  ‘What do you ask?’ said Gunnar.

  ‘This,’ he said: ‘that you submit the whole matter to arbitration and let good men reach a settlement.’

  Gunnar said, ‘Only if you promise never to be against me, no matter who I’m dealing with.’

  ‘I promise you that,’ said Hjalti. Then he talked things over with Gunnar’s opponents and brought it about that everyone agreed to make peace, and then each side gave pledges to the other. Thorgeir’s bloody wound was offset by the seduction charge against him, and Starkad’s wound was offset by the wood which he had cut illegally. Thorgeir’s brothers were to get half compensation, with the other half cancelled because of their attack on Gunnar. Tyrfing’s suit and the slaying of Egil of Sandgil offset each other, and the slaying of Hjort was offset by the slaying of Kol and of the Norwegian. All the others were to be given half compensation.

  Njal took part in this settlement, along with Asgrim Ellida-Grimsson and Hjalti Skeggjason.

  Njal had a large amount of money on loan to Starkad and to the people at Sandgil, and he turned all of this over to Gunnar to pay these fines. Gunnar had so many friends at the Thing that he paid up at once for all the slayings and gave gifts to the chieftains who had helped him, and he earned great honour from all this
and everyone agreed that he had no equal in the South Quarter.

  Gunnar rode home from the Thing and stayed there in peace, but his enemies were very envious of the honour he had earned.

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  To return now to Thorgeir Otkelsson: he grew up to be a worthy man, big and strong, honest and straightforward, but somewhat pliable. He was well liked by the best people and loved by his kinsmen.

  One day Thorgeir Starkadarson went to see his kinsman Mord. ‘I am ill-pleased,’ he said, ‘with the outcome of the lawsuit we had with Gunnar. I paid you to help us as long as we both lived, and now I want you to come up with a good plan, so think hard on it. I speak plainly because I know that you are Gunnar’s greatest enemy, just as he is yours. I will add greatly to your honour if you manage this well.’

  ‘It has always turned out that I am greedy for money’ said Mord, ‘and it’s still so. It will be difficult to manage things so that you don’t become a truce-violator or peace-breaker, and yet get what you’re after. I’ve been told, however, that Kolskegg is going to bring a suit to regain one-fourth of the farm at Moeidarhvol, which was paid to your father in compensation for his son. He has taken over this case from his mother, and it is Gunnar’s plan to pay cash and not let the land go. Let’s wait until this has been done, and then charge Gunnar with breaking the settlement with you. He has also taken a grainfield from Thorgeir Otkelsson and thus broken the settlement with him. You must go to see Thorgeir Otkelsson and bring him into this, and then attack Gunnar. If something goes wrong and you fail to get Gunnar, attack him again and again.

  ‘I can tell you something else: Njal made a prophecy to Gunnar about the course of his life and told him that if he killed more than once within the same bloodline, his death would follow swiftly – if it also happened that he broke a settlement made for that killing. This is the reason you must get Thorgeir involved, since Gunnar has already killed his father, and if the two of you are together in a fight, you must protect yourself and let him go ahead, and Gunnar will slay him. Then he will have killed twice within the same bloodline, and you must flee the fight. If this is to lead to his death, he will break the settlement made for this slaying. Until then there’s nothing to be done.’