by AnonYMous
Geirmund spoke: ‘You listed one man as dead whom we know to have escaped – I spoke with him this morning.’
‘Who is that?’ said Flosi.
‘Kari Solmundarson – my neighbour Bard and I came across him,’ said Geirmund, ‘and Bard gave him a horse, and his hair and his clothes were burned off him.’
‘Did he have any weapons?’ said Flosi.
‘He had the sword Life-taker,’ said Geirmund, ‘and one of its edges had turned blue, and we said that it must have lost its temper, but he said he would harden it with the blood of the Sigfussons and the other burners.’
Flosi said, ‘What did he say about Skarphedin and Grim?’
‘He said that they were both alive when he left,’ said Geirmund, ‘but he expected them to be dead by now.’
Flosi spoke: ‘You have told us things which bode no peace for us, for the man who has escaped comes closest to Gunnar of Hlidarendi in all respects. You must now think of this, you Sigfussons and the rest of our men, that the actions taken in response to this burning will be so great that they will cost many men their heads, and others will lose all their property. I suspect that none of you Sigfussons will dare to stay at home now, and with good reason. I want to invite all of you to come east with me, and let one fate await us all.’
They thanked him.
Modolf Ketilsson spoke this verse:
13.
From Njal’s house one lived one: Kari
when fire burned the rest;
the sons of Sigfus,
stalwart men, set it.
Now the kin of Gollnir is paid kin of Gollnir: Njal
for the killing of brave Hoskuld;
the blaze burned through the house,
bright flames in the hall.
‘We must find other things to boast of,’ said Flosi, ‘than the burning of Njal, for there’s no distinction in that.’
Flosi went up on the gable wall, with Glum Hildisson and some others.
Glum said, ‘Is Skarphedin dead yet?’
The others said he had been dead for a long time. The fire flared up one moment and died down the next. Then they heard, from down in the embers, this verse being spoken:
14.
Gunn of gold will not hold back Gunn (valkyrie) of gold: woman
the gushing tears from her brow
over the sparring of spears sparring of spears: fight
of the spirited shield-warrior,
when the allies of the edge allies of the edge: warriors
exulted in the slaughter–
I boldly sing this song–
and spears tried in wounds cried out.2
Grani Gunnarsson said, ‘Did Skarphedin speak this verse alive or dead?’
‘I won’t make any guesses about that,’ said Flosi.
‘Let’s go looking,’ said Grani, ‘for Skarphedin and for the other men who burned to death here.’
‘No!’ said Flosi, ‘and only fools like you would say that, when men must be gathering forces all over the district. Whoever stays around here now will be so frightened that he won’t know which way to run, and so my advice is that we all ride away at once.’
Flosi and all his men went quickly to their horses.
Flosi said to Geirmund, ‘Is Ingjald home at Keldur?’
Geirmund said that he thought he was.
‘That man,’ said Flosi, ‘has broken his oath and all faith with us.’
Flosi said to the Sigfussons, ‘What do you want to do with him?
Do you want to let him go, or shall we go after him and kill him?’
They all answered that they wanted to go after him.
Flosi and all the others then sprang on their horses and rode away.
Flosi rode out in front and headed for the Ranga and followed it upstream. He saw a man riding down on the other side of the river; he recognized him as Ingjald of Keldur. Flosi called to him. Ingjald stopped and headed towards the river.
Flosi spoke to him: ‘You have broken your pledge to us, and for that you have forfeited your property and your life. Here are the Sigfussons, eager to kill you, but I can see that you were in a difficult position, and I’m willing to spare you if you give me self-judgement.’
Ingjald said, ‘I’ll ride to join Kari before I’ll give you self-judgement. And my answer to the Sigfussons is that I am no more afraid of them than they are of me.’
‘Just stay there,’ said Flosi, ‘if you’re not a coward, and I’ll direct a message your way.’
‘I’ll wait right here,’ said Ingjald.
Thorstein Kolbeinsson, Flosi’s nephew, rode up to him with a spear in his hand. He was one of Flosi’s bravest and most admired men. Flosi grabbed the spear from him and hurled it at Ingjald. It came at him from the left and passed through the shield below the handle and split the shield in two; the spear passed through Ingjald’s thigh just above the knee and stuck fast in the side-board of the saddle.
Flosi spoke to Ingjald: ‘Well, did it hit you?’
‘It hit me all right,’ said Ingjald, ‘but I call it a scratch, not a wound.’
Ingjald jerked the spear out of his leg and spoke to Flosi: ‘Now you stay there, if you’re not a softie’ – and he hurled the spear back across the river. Flosi saw it coming straight at him; he turned his horse aside; the spear flew past his chest and missed him and hit Thorstein in the waist and he fell down dead from his horse. Ingjald galloped into the woods, and they didn’t catch him.
Flosi spoke to his men: ‘We have just suffered a great loss. From the fact that this happened we can see what bad luck we shall have. My advice now is that we ride back to Thrihyrning ridge. From there we can see which way men are riding in the district, for by now they must have gathered a large force, and they’ll expect that from Thrihyrning ridge we rode east to Fljotshlid, and they’ll expect us to ride north from there to the mountains and then to the eastern districts. Most of their men will ride that way, but some will ride east along the coast to Seljalandsmuli, even though they have less hope of finding us there. And now I propose this plan – that we ride up to the mountain Thrihyrning and wait there until the sun has passed from the sky three times.’
They did this.
131
To return now to Kari: he went from the hollow to the place where he met Bard and they had the talk which Geirmund reported. From there Kari rode to Mord Valgardsson and told him what had happened, and Mord grieved greatly. Kari said there were more manly things to do than weep for the dead, and he asked him to gather men and bring them all to Holtsvad.
Then he rode off to see Hjalti Skeggjason in Thjorsardal. As he was coming along the Thjorsa river he saw someone riding after him in great haste, and Kari waited for the man; he saw that it was Ingjald of Keldur and that his thigh was all bloody. He asked Ingjald who had wounded him, and Ingjald told him.
‘Where did you two meet?’ said Kari.
‘At the Ranga river,’ said Ingjald, ‘and he threw a spear across the river at me.’
‘Did you do anything in return?’ said Kari.
‘I threw the spear back,’ said Ingjald, ‘and they said that it hit a man and killed him.’
‘Don’t you know who it was?’ said Kari.
‘It looked like Thorstein, Flosi’s nephew,’ said Ingjald.
‘Bless your hands!’ said Kari.
The two of them then rode to Hjalti Skeggjason and told him about the burning. He took this angrily and said that it was imperative that they ride after them and kill them all. He gathered forces and called up all available men, and then they rode with Kari to meet Mord Valgardsson at Holtsvad. Mord was already there with a large force. They split up for the search: some rode east along the coast to Seljalandsmuli, others up to Fljotshlid, and others went further north up to Thrihyrning ridge, from there down to Godaland, and then north to Sand. Some went to Fiskivotn and then turned back.
Others went along the coast to Holt and told Thorgeir what had happened and asked him whether Flosi an
d his men had passed by there.
Thorgeir spoke: ‘I may not be a great chieftain, but Flosi would find a better plan than to ride past me in full view after he has killed my father’s brother Njal and my cousins. Your only choice is to turn back, for you have searched much too widely. Tell Kari that he should ride here and stay with me, if he wishes, and if he doesn’t want to come east I will take care of his farm at Dyrholmar, if he wishes. And tell him that I will support him and ride to the Althing. He must be aware that my brothers and I are the ones who will take action for the burning. We’ll keep at this until we have sentences of outlawry, if we’re successful, and blood revenge on top of that. I won’t go with you now because I know that nothing will happen – they’ll be extremely careful now.’
They rode back then and all met at Hof and talked about how they had brought shame on themselves for not having found them. Mord said that this was not so. Many of them urged that they should go to Fljotshlid and seize the farms of all those who had taken part in the deed, but the matter was referred to Mord. He said that this would be most ill-advised. They asked why he said that.
He answered, ‘If their farms are untouched, they will come to visit them and their women, and then they can be hunted down in due course. Have no doubt that I will be loyal to Kari in every way, for I must look out for myself.’1
Hjalti told Mord to keep to his promise. Then he invited Kari to stay with him; Kari said that he would make that his first stop. They told him what Thorgeir had offered, and he said he would make use of that offer later and that he would take heart if there were many such men.
Then they all disbanded.
Flosi and his men saw everything that was going on from where they were in the mountain.
Flosi said, ‘Let’s take our horses and ride away – it’s safe for us now.’
The Sigfussons asked whether it would be a good idea for them to go to their farms and oversee the work there.
‘Mord is expecting you to visit your women,’ said Flosi, ‘and it’s my guess that his advice is to let your farms remain untouched. My advice is that none of us separates from the rest and that you all ride east with me.’
They all agreed to follow that advice. They rode away, north of the glacier and then east to Svinafell. Flosi sent men off at once to gather provisions so that they would not be short of anything.
Flosi never boasted of what he had done, and no one ever detected any fear in him. He was at home that winter until Christmas.
132
Kari asked Hjalti to go and look for Njal’s remains – ‘because everybody will believe what you say and think about them.’
Hjalti said he would gladly do that, and also bring Njal’s remains to church. Fifteen of them rode off. They went east over the Thjorsa river and called others to join them, and eventually they had a hundred men, including Njal’s neighbours. They reached Berg-thorshvol at noon.
Hjalti asked Kari where Njal would be lying, and Kari showed him; they cleared away a great deal of ash. At the bottom they found the ox-hide, shrivelled up from the fire. They lifted it off and underneath lay the two of them, unburned. They all praised God for this and thought it a great miracle. Then the boy who had lain between them was taken up, and one of his fingers, which he had stuck out from under the hide, was burned off. Njal was carried out, and then Bergthora. Everybody came to look at their bodies.
Hjalti spoke: ‘How do these bodies seem to you?’
They answered, ‘We’ll wait for what you have to say.’
Hjalti spoke: ‘I’ll be frank about this. Bergthora’s body is as I would have expected, though well preserved. Njal’s countenance and body seem to me so radiant that I’ve never seen a dead man’s body as radiant as his.’
They all agreed that this was so.
Then they searched for Skarphedin. The servants showed them where Flosi and his men had heard the verse spoken, where the roof had collapsed next to the gable wall, and Hjalti said they should dig there. They did and found the body of Skarphedin; he had been standing up against the gable wall, and his legs were burned off almost up to the knees, but the rest of him was unburned. He had bitten into his upper lip. His eyes were open and not swollen. He had driven his axe into the gable wall so hard that half the blade was buried, and it had not lost its temper. Then he was carried out, with the axe.
Hjalti picked up the axe and said, ‘This is not an ordinary weapon, and few men will be able to use it.’
Kari said, ‘I know the man who should use it.’
‘Who is that?’ said Hjalti.
‘Thorgeir Skorar-Geir,’ said Kari, ‘whom I consider the best man in that family now.’
Skarphedin was then stripped of his clothes; they had not been burned away. He had folded his arms in a cross, with the right arm above, and they found two marks on him, one between his shoulders and the other on his chest, and in both places a cross had been burned, and people thought he had probably burned these marks himself. Everybody said that it was easier to be in the presence of the dead Skarphedin than they had expected, for no one was afraid of him.
They looked for Grim and found his remains in the middle of the hall. Opposite him they found Thord Freed-man, under the side wall, and in the weaving-room they found the old woman Saeunn and three more men. Altogether they found the remains of eleven people. They carried the bodies to church.
Then Hjalti rode home, and Kari went with him. Ingjald had an infection in his leg and he went to see Hjalti, and he cured it, but Ingjald always limped after that.
Kari rode to Asgrim at Tunga. Thorhalla had already arrived home and she had told of the burning. Asgrim welcomed Kari with open arms and said that he should stay there for the next year; Kari said he would. Asgrim invited everybody who had been living at Bergthorshvol to stay with him. Kari said that this was a good offer – ‘and I accept it on their behalf.’ The whole household then moved over there.
Thorhall Asgrimsson was so moved when he was told that his foster-father Njal was dead and that he had been burned in his house that his whole body swelled up and blood gushed from both ears, and it did not stop and he fell in a faint, and then it stopped. After that he stood up and said that this had not been manly of him – ‘but I wish I could take vengeance against the men who burned Njal in his house for what just happened to me.’
The others said that no one would consider that shameful, but he said that he could not stop people from talking.
Asgrim asked Kari what support he could count on from those on the east side of the rivers. Kari said that Mord Valgardsson and Hjalti Skeggjason would give as much help as they could, and also Thorgeir Skorargeir and his brothers. Asgrim said that this was a strong force.
‘What help are we to have from you?’ said Kari.
‘Everything I have,’ said Asgrim. ‘I’ll risk my life for this.’
‘Do so,’ said Kari.
‘I have also brought Gizur the White into the matter,’ said Asgrim, ‘and I asked him how we should proceed.’
‘That’s good,’ said Kari. ‘What did he suggest?’
Asgrim answered, ‘He suggested that we lie low until the spring, and then ride east and start legal proceedings against Flosi for the slaying of Helgi, and summon neighbours and give notice at the Thing of the suit for the burning, and summon the same neighbours to serve on a panel. I asked Gizur who should prosecute the case for the slaying, and he said that Mord should prosecute, even if he didn’t like it – “he should have the heaviest lot, because in this whole matter the worst things have come from him. Kari must show anger towards him whenever they meet, and that, along with another plan of my own, will bring him round,” said Gizur.’
Kari said, ‘We shall follow your advice as long as we can and you are willing to lead us.’
Of Kari it is said that he was unable to sleep at night. Asgrim woke up one night and heard that he was awake.
Asgrim said, ‘Aren’t you sleepy at night?’
Kari spoke a verse:
15.
Sleep shuns my eyes, Ull
of the elm-string, all night; elm-string: bow; its Ull (a god): warrior
I recall the man
who craved shields set with rings. man who craved shields: warrior
In autumn the blazing
sword-trees burned Njal at home; sword-trees: warriors
since then the harm done me
has dwelt in my mind.
Kari spoke of no one as often as he did of Njal and Skarphedin. He never spoke ill of his enemies, and he never made threats against them.
133
To tell now about Flosi at Svinafell: he was sleeping badly one night. Glum Hildisson tried to wake him up, and it took a long time before Flosi was awake. He asked Glum to bring Ketil of Mork.
Ketil came there.
Flosi said, ‘I want to tell you about a dream I had.’1
‘Go ahead,’ said Ketil.
‘I dreamed,’ said Flosi, ‘that I was at Lomagnup and went outside and looked up at the peak. It opened, and a man came walking out of the peak, and he wore a goatskin and held an iron staff in his hand. He called out as he walked and called to my men – some first, some later – and he named them by name. First he called Grim the Red and Arni Kolsson. Then it was strange – I dreamed that he called Eyjolf Bolverksson and Ljot, the son of Hall of Sida, and about six other men. Then he was quiet for a while. Then he called another five of our men, and among them were the Sigfussons, your brothers. Then he called five more, including Lambi and Modolf and Glum. Then he called three men. Finally he called Gunnar Lambason and Kol Thorsteinsson.2
‘After that he walked over to me. I asked him what news he had. He said he would tell me. I asked him for his name; he called himself Iron-Grim. I asked where he was going; he said he was going to the Althing.
‘ “What are you going to do there?” I said.
‘He answered, “First I shall clear the panel of neighbours, and then the court, and then the battlefield for the battlers.”3