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diff --git a/48622-0.txt b/48622-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..3bc0657 --- /dev/null +++ b/48622-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8222 @@ + GRETTIR THE OUTLAW + + + + +This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and +most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions +whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms +of the Project Gutenberg License included with this ebook or online at +http://www.gutenberg.org/license. If you are not located in the United +States, you’ll have to check the laws of the country where you are +located before using this ebook. + + + +Title: Grettir the Outlaw + A Story of Iceland +Author: S. Baring-Gould +Release Date: March 31, 2015 [EBook #48622] +Language: English +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GRETTIR THE OUTLAW *** + + + + +Produced by Al Haines. + + + + +[Illustration: Cover art] + + + + +[Illustration: THORKELL AND THE OUTLAWED GRETTIR LEAVE THE ASSIZE.] + + + + + *Grettir the Outlaw* + + *A Story of Iceland* + + + by + + S. BARING-GOULD + + Author of "John Herring" "Mehalah" "Iceland: its Scenes and Sagas" &c. + + + + _WITH SIX PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS BY M. ZENO DIEMER_ + + + + BLACKIE AND SON LIMITED + LONDON GLASGOW AND DUBLIN + 1889 + + + + + *PREFACE.* + + + TO MY YOUNG READERS. + + +It is now just thirty years since I first began to read the "Saga of +Grettir the Strong" in Icelandic. At that time I had only a Danish +grammar of Icelandic and an Icelandic-Danish dictionary, and I did not +know a word of Danish. So I had to learn Danish in order to learn +Icelandic. + +It was laborious work making out the Saga, and every line when I began +took me some time to understand. Moreover, I had not much time at my +disposal, for then I was a master in a school. + +Now, after I had worked a little way into the Saga, I became intensely +interested in it myself, and it struck me that my boys whom I taught +might like to hear about Grettir. So I tried every day to translate, +after school hours, a chapter, hardly ever more at first, and sometimes +not even as much as that. Then, when on half-holidays I proposed a walk +to some of my scholars, they were keen to hear the story of Grettir. +Well, Grettir went on for some months in this way, a fresh instalment of +the tale coming every half-holiday, and it was really wonderful how +interested and delighted the boys were with the story. Nor was I less +so; the labour of translation which was so great at first became rapidly +lighter, and I was as much interested in the adventures of the hero as +were the boys. The other day I met an old pupil of mine, and almost the +first thing he said to me was: "Oh! do you remember Grettir? Thirty +years ago! Fancy! I am a married man and have boys of my own, and I +have often tried to tell them the story which made such an impression on +me, but I cannot remember all the incidents nor their order. I do wish +you would write it as a story for boys. I should like to read it myself +again, and my boys would love it." "Very well," I said, "I will do so." + +Now my boy readers must understand that I have told them the story in my +own words and in my own way. I went to Iceland in 1861, and went over +nearly every bit of the ground made famous by the adventures of Grettir. +Consequently, I am able to help out and illustrate the tale by what I +actually saw. In the original book there is a great deal more than I +have attempted to retell, but much has to do with the ancestors of +Grettir, and there are other incidents introduced of no great importance +and very confusing to the memory. So I have taken the leading points in +the story, and given them. + +S. BARING-GOULD. + + + + + *CONTENTS.* + +CHAP. + + I. Winter Tales + II. How Grettir played on the Ice + III. Of the Ride to Thingvalla + IV. The Doom-day + V. The Voyage + VI. The Red Rovers + VII. The Story of the Sword + VIII. Of the Bear + IX. The Slaying of Biorn + X. Of Grettir’s Return + XI. The Horse-fight + XII. Of the Fight at the Neck + XIII. How Grettir and Audun made Friends + XIV. The Vale of Shadows + XV. How Grettir fought with Glam + XVI. How Grettir Sailed to Norway + XVII. The Hostel-burning + XVIII. The Ordeal by Fire + XIX. The Winter in Norway + XX. Of what Befell at Biarg + XXI. The Return of Grettir + XXII. The Slaying of Oxmain + XXIII. At Learwood + XXIV. The Foster-brothers + XXV. How Grettir was well nigh Hung + XXVI. In the Desert + XXVII. On the Great Eagle Lake + XXVIII. On the Fell + XXIX. The Fight on the River + XXX. A Mysterious Vale + XXXI. The Death of Hallmund + XXXII. Of Another Attempt against Grettir + XXXIII. At Sandheaps + XXXIV. How Grettir was Driven About + XXXV. On the Isle + XXXVI. Of Grettir on Heron-ness + XXXVII. Of Hœring’s Leap +XXXVIII. Of the Attempt made by Grettir’s Friends + XXXIX. Of the Old Hag + XL. How the Log came to Drangey + XLI. The End of the Outlaw + XLII. How Asdis received the News + XLIII. How Dromund kept his Word + +Epilogue + + + + + *ILLUSTRATIONS.* + + +Thorkell and the outlawed Grettir leave the Assize, _Frontis_. + +Grettir challenges Kormak and his Party + +Grettir defends Himself from the Mob + +Grettir attacked in the Rift by Thorir’s Party + +Fording the quivering flood + +Illugi defends the dying Grettir + + + + +[Illustration: PEDIGREE OF THE FAMILY OF ASMUND OF BIARG] + + + + + *GRETTIR THE OUTLAW.* + + + + *CHAPTER I.* + + *WINTER TALES.* + + + _The Birthplace of Grettir—The Peopling of Iceland—A History of + Quarrels—Stories Round the Hearth—Biarg—The Great Blue Bay—The + Boy Grettir—The Saga of Onund Treefoot—The Northern Pirates—The + Fight with King Harald—Onund’s Wound—After the Battle_ + + +It was night—drawing on to midnight—in summer, that I who write this +book arrived at the little lonely farm of Biarg, on the Middle River, in +the north of Iceland. It was night, near on midnight, and yet I could +hardly call it night, for the sky overhead was full of light of the +clearest amethyst, and every stock and stone was distinctly visible. +Across the valley rose a rugged moor, and above its shoulder a snow-clad +mountain, turned to rosy gold by the night sun. As I stood there +watching the mist form on the cold river in the vale below, all at once +I heard a strange sound like horns blowing far away in the sky, and +looking up, I saw a train of swans flying from west to east, bathed in +sunlight, their wings of silver, and their feathers as gold. + +I had come all the way from England to see Biarg, for there was born, +about the year A.D. 997, a man called Grettir, whose history I had read, +and which interested me so much that I was resolved to see his native +home, and the principal scenes where his stormy life was passed. + +The landscape was the same as that on which Grettir’s childish eyes had +looked more than eight hundred and fifty years ago. The same outline of +dreary moor, the same snowy ridge of mountain standing above it, +catching the midnight summer sun, the same mist forming over the river; +but the house was altogether different. Now there stood only a poor +heap of farm-buildings, erected of turf and wood, where had once been a +noble hall of wood, with carved gable-ends, surrounded by many +out-houses. + +Before we begin on the story of Grettir, it will be well to say a few +words about its claim to be history. + +Iceland never was, and it is not now, a much-peopled island. The +farmhouses are for the most part far apart, and the farms are of very +considerable extent, because, owing to the severity of the climate, very +little pasturage is obtained over a wide extent of country for the sheep +and cattle. The population lives round the coast, on the fiords or +creeks of the sea, or on the rivers that flow into these fiords. The +centre of the island is occupied by a vast waste of ice-covered +mountain, and desert black as ink strewn with volcanic ash and sand, or +else with a region of erupted lava that is impassable, because in +cooling it has exploded, and forms a country of bristling spikes and +gulfs and sharp edges, very much like the wreck of a huge ginger-beer +bottle factory. + +What are now farmhouses were the halls and mansions of families of noble +descent. Indeed, the original settlers in Iceland were the nobles of +Norway who left their native land to avoid the tyranny of Harold +Fairhair, who tried to crush their power so as to make himself a +despotic king in the land. + +These Norse nobles came in their boats to Iceland, bringing with them +their wives, children, their thralls or slaves, and their cattle; and +they settled all round the coast. The present Icelanders are descended +from these first colonists. + +Now, the history of Iceland for a few hundred years consists of nothing +but the history of the quarrels of these great families. Iceland was +without any political organization, but it had an elected lawman or +judge, and every year the heads of the families rode to Thingvalla, a +plain in the south-west, where they brought their complaints, carried on +their lawsuits, and had them settled by the judge. There was no army, no +navy, no government in Iceland for a long time; also no foreign wars, +and no internal revolutions. + +These noble families settled in the valleys and upon the fiords thought +a good deal of themselves, and they carefully preserved, at first orally +then in writing, the record of their pedigrees, and also the tradition +of the famous deeds of their great men. + +In summer there is no night; in winter, no day. In winter there is +little or nothing to be done but sit over the fire, sing songs, and tell +yarns. Now, in winter the Icelanders told the tales of the brave men of +old in their families, and so the tradition was handed on from father to +son, the same stories told every winter, till all the particulars became +well known. At the same time there can be no doubt that little +embellishments were added, some exaggerations were indulged in, and here +and there the grand deed of some other man was grafted into the story of +the family hero. About two hundred or two hundred and fifty years after +the death of Grettir, his history was committed to writing, and then it +became fixed—nothing further was added to it, and we have his story +after having travelled down over two hundred years as a tradition. That +was plenty of time for additions and emendations, and the hobgoblin and +ghost stories that come into his life are some of these embellishments. +But the main facts of his life are true history. We are able to decide +this by comparing his story with those of other families in the same +part of the island, and to see whether they agree as to dates, and as to +the circumstances narrated in them. + +In the north-west of Iceland is an immense bay called the Huna-floi, +which branches off into several creeks, the largest of which is called +the Ramsfirth, and the next to that is the Middlefiord. Into this flows +a river that has its rise in the central desert, in a perfect tangle of +lakes. Three rivers issuing from these lakes unite just above Biarg, +and pour their waters a short morning’s ride lower through sands into +the Middlefirth. + +The valley is not cheerful, running from north to south. Biarg lies on +the east side, and faces the western sun. The moor which lies behind +it, and forms the hill on the other side of the river, is not broken and +picturesque, and if it were not for the peak of Burfell, covered with +snow a good part of the year, the view from Biarg would be as +uninteresting as any to be found in the land. But then, when one rides +down to the coast, or ascends the moor, what a splendid view bursts on +the sight! The great Polar Sea is before one, intensely blue, not with +the deep ultramarine of the Mediterranean, but with the blue of the +nemophyla or forget-me-not, rolling in from the mysterious North; and +across the mighty bay of the Huna-floi can be seen the snowy mountains +of that extraordinary peninsula which runs out to the north-west of +Iceland, and is only just not converted into an island because connected +with Iceland by a narrow strip of land. That great projection is like a +hand with fiords between the fingers of land, and glacier-mountains +where are the knuckles; but the wrist is very narrow indeed, only about +one English mile across, and there lies a trough along this junction, +with a little stream and a lake in it. Now, at this wrist, as we may +call it, lies the farm of Eyre, where, somewhat later, lived the sister +of Grettir, who married a man that farmed there, named Glum. + +Looking away across the great blue bay, the mountains of the hand may be +seen rising out of the sea, and looking like icebergs. + +Grettir the Strong was the son of a well-to-do bonder, or yeoman, who +lived at Biarg, and was descended from some of the great nobles of +Norway. His father’s name was Asmund with the Grey-head, and his +mother’s name was Asdis. + +He had a brother called Atli, a gentle, kindly young fellow, who never +wittingly quarrelled with anyone, and was liked by all with whom he had +to do. He had also two sisters—one was called Thordis, and she was +married to Glum of Eyre—but neither come into the story; and he had +another sister called Rannveig, who was married to Gamli of Melar, at +the head of Ramsfirth. He had also a little brother called Illugi, of +whom more hereafter. Grettir was not a good-looking boy; he had reddish +hair, a pale face full of freckles, and light blue eyes. He was +broad-built, not tall as a boy, though in the end he grew to be a very +big man. + +He was not considered a good-tempered or sociable boy. He seemed lazy +and sullen; he liked to sit by the fire without speaking to anyone, +listening to what was said, and brooding over what he had heard. + +If his father set him a task, he did it so unwillingly, and so badly +that Asmund Greyhead regretted having set him to do anything. + +Now, during the winter, as we have already seen, when there is but a +very little daylight, and the nights are vastly long, when, moreover, +the whole land is deep in snow, so that there is no farm-work that can +be done, and no travelling about to visit neighbours, it was, and is +still, usual in Iceland for those in the house to tell tales, or sagas, +as they are called. Some of these sagas relate to the old gods of the +Norsemen, some are fabulous stories of old heroes who never existed, or, +if they did exist, have had all sorts of fantastic legends tacked on to +their histories; but other sagas are the tales of the doings of +ancestors of the family. + +Now, among the sagas that Grettir used to hearken to with greatest +delight was that of old Onund Treefoot, his great-grandfather, who first +settled in Iceland. And this was the tale: + + +Onund, the son of Ufeigh Clubfoot, son of Ivar the Smiter, was a mighty +Viking in Norway; that is, he went about every summer harrying the +coasts of England, Ireland, and Scotland. He joined with three friends, +and they had five ships together, and one summer they sailed to the +Hebrides—which were then called the Sudereys, or southern isles. The +Bishop of the Isle of Man is still called Bishop of Sodor and Man, +because his diocese originally included the Sudereys. Then out against +them came Kiarval, king of the Hebrides, with five ships, and they gave +him battle, and there was a hard fray. But the men of Onund were the +mightiest warriors. On each side many fell, but the end of the battle +was that the king fled with only one ship. So Onund took the four +vessels and great spoil, and he wrought great havoc on the coast, +plundering and burning, and so in the fall of the year returned to +Norway. In the history of England, and in that of Scotland and of +Ireland, we read of the terrible annoyance given to the natives of Great +Britain and Ireland by the northern pirates; and, indeed, they conquered +Dublin, and established a kingdom there, and also took to themselves +Orkney. Well, when Onund returned to Norway he did not find that +matters were pleasant there; for King Harald the Unshorn had begun to +establish himself sole king in Norway. Hitherto there had been many +small kings and earls; but Harald had taken an oath that he would not +cut or trim his hair till he had subdued all under his power, and made +himself supreme throughout the land. + +A great many bonders and all the little kings united against him, and +there was a great battle fought at Hafrsfiord—the greatest battle that +had as yet been fought in Norway. Onund was in the battle along with +his friend, King Thorir Longchin, and he set his ship alongside of that +of King Longchin. King Harald ran his ship up alongside of that of +Longchin, grappled it, and boarded it. There was a furious fight, and +Harald sent on board his Bearsarks, a set of half-mad ruffians, who wore +not bear but wolf skins, and who were said to lead charmed lives, so +that no weapon would wound them. Thorir Longchin and all his men were +killed; and then King Harald cut away the ship and ran up against that +of Onund. Onund was in the fore part, and he fought manfully. As the +grappling-irons of Harald caught his ship, Onund made a sweep with his +longsword at the man who threw the irons, and in so doing he put his leg +over the bulwark. Then one on the king’s ship threw a spear at Onund. +He saw it flung, and leaned his head back to let it fly over him, and as +he did so one on the king’s ship smote at him with a battle-axe, and the +axe fell on his leg below the knee and shore his leg off. Then Onund +fell back on board his own vessel, and his men carried him across into +that of a friend named Thrand, who lay alongside of him on the other +board. And Thrand had a great cauldron there of pitch boiled, and Onund +set his knee in the boiling pitch, and never blinked nor uttered a cry. +That staunched the blood. If he had not done this he would have bled to +death. + +Now, Thrand saw that King Harald was gaining the mastery everywhere, so +he fled away with his ship and sailed west. + +Onund was healed of his wound, but ever after he walked with a wooden +leg, and that is why he got the name of Onund Treefoot. + +After the battle of Hafrsfiord, Onund could only return to Norway by +stealth, and he could not recover his lands there, so he deemed it +wisest for him to sail away and seek a home elsewhere. That is how he +left Norway and settled in Iceland. + +And when King Harald saw himself lord and master through all the land, +then he had his hair trimmed and combed, and it was so long and so +beautiful, that ever after he who had been called "The Unshorn" went by +the name of "Fairhair," and in history he is known as King Harald +Fairhair. + + + + + *CHAPTER II.* + + *HOW GRETTIR PLAYED ON THE ICE.* + + + _An Evil Boyhood—Golf on the Ice—Grettir Quarrels with Audun—A + Threat of Vengeance_ + + +There are several tales told of Grettir when he was a boy, which show +that he was a rough and unkindly lad. He was set by his father to keep +geese on the moors, and this made him angry, so he threw stones at the +geese and killed or wounded them all. + +The old man suffered from lumbago, and in winter when unwell asked his +wife and the boys to rub his back by the fire; but when Grettir was +required to do this, he lost his temper, and on one occasion he snatched +up a wool-carding comb and dug it into his old father’s back. + +Many other things he did which made those at home not like him, and +there was not much love lost between him and his father. The fact was +that Grettir was a headstrong, wilful fellow, and bitterly had he to pay +in after life for this youthful wilfulness and obstinacy. It was these +qualities, untamed in him, that wrecked his whole life, and it may be +said brought ruin and extinction on his family. There were great and +good qualities in Grettir’s nature, but they did not show when he was +young; only much suffering and cruel privations brought out in the end +the higher and nobler elements that were in him. + +It is so with all who have any good in them, if by early discipline it +is not manifested, then it is brought out by the rough usage of +misfortune in after life. + +And now I will give one incident of Grettir’s boyhood. It was a +favourite amusement for young fellows at that time to play golf on the +ice, and in winter, when the Middlefirth was frozen over, large parties +assembled there for the sport. + +One winter a party was arranged for a match on the ice, and a good many +lads came to Middlefirth from Willowdale, a valley only separated from +the Middlefirth by a long shoulder of ugly moor. The Willowdales-men +had a much better sheet of water, a very large lake called Hop, into +which their river flowed, before discharging itself into the sea; and +the return match was to be played on Hop. + +Among the young fellows who came from Willowdale was Audun, a fine, +strapping fellow; frank, well-built, good-looking, and amiable. + +When the parties were assembled at the place, there they were paired off +according to age and strength; and on this occasion I am speaking of, +Grettir, who was fourteen, was set to play with Audun, who was two years +older than he, and a head taller. + +Audun struck the ball and it flew over Grettir’s head, and he missed it, +and it went skimming away over the ice to a great distance, and Grettir +had to run after it. Some of those who were looking on laughed. Then +Grettir’s anger was roused. He got the ball and came back carrying it, +till he was within a few yards of Audun, and then, instead of dropping +the ball, and striking it with his golfing-stick, he suddenly threw it +with all his force against his adversary, and struck him between his +eyes, so that it half-stunned him, and cut the skin. Audun whirled his +golfing-bat round, and struck at Grettir, who dodged under and escaped +the blow. Then Audun and Grettir grappled each other, and wrestled on +the ice. + +Every one thought that Audun would have the stumpy, thick-set boy down +in a trice, but it was not so; Grettir held his ground;—they swung this +way, that way; now one seemed about to be cast, and then the other, and +although Audun was almost come to a man’s strength, he could not for a +long time throw Grettir. At last Grettir slipped on a piece of ice +where some had been sliding, and went down. His blood was up, so was +that of Audun; and the fight would have been continued with their +sticks, had not Grettir’s brother Atli thrown himself between the +combatants and separated them. Atli held his brother back, and tried to +patch up the quarrel. + +"You need not hold me like a mad dog," said Grettir. "Thralls wreak +their vengeance at once, cowards never." + +Audun and Grettir were distant cousins. They were not allowed to play +against each other any more, and the rest went on with their game. + + + + + *CHAPTER III.* + + *OF THE RIDE TO THINGVALLA.* + + + _Thorkel Mani’s Find—Thorkel Krafla—The Halt at Biarg—A Bad + Prospect—Among the Lakes—The Lost Meal-bags—Suspicion + Confirmed—The Slaying of Skeggi—The Song of the + Battle-ogress—Grettir Chooses to take his Trial_ + + +There lived in Waterdale, a day’s journey from Biarg, an old bonder, +named Thorkel Krafla. He was the first Icelander who became a Christian. + +In heathen times, among the Northmen as among the Romans, it was +allowable for parents to expose their children to death, if they did not +want to have the trouble of rearing them. Now Thorkel had been so +exposed, with a napkin over his face. It so happened that a great chief +called Thorkel Mani was riding along one day, thinking about the gods +that he had been taught to believe in, who drank and got drunk, and +fought each other, and, being a grave, meditative man, he could not make +out what these rollicking, fighting gods could have had to do with the +world,—with the creation of sun, moon, and stars, and the earth with its +yield. He thought to himself, "There must be some God above these +tipsy, quarrelsome deities; and this higher God must love men, and be +good and kind to men." + +As he thought this, he heard a little whimpering noise from behind a +stone; he got off his horse, and went to see what produced this noise, +and found there a poor little baby, that with its tiny hands had rumpled +up the kerchief which had been spread over its nose and mouth. Thorkel +Mani took up the deserted babe in his arms, and looking up to heaven, to +the sun, said, "If the good God, who is high over all, called this +little being into life, gave it eyes and mouth and ears and hands and +feet, He surely never intended His handiwork to be cast out as a thing +of no value, to die. For the love of Him I will take this child." + +Then Thorkel Mani rode home, carrying the baby in his arms; and he +called it by his own name, Thorkel; but to distinguish it from himself, +it was given the nickname Krafla, which means to rumple, because the +babe had rumpled up the kerchief, so as to let its cries be heard. So +the child grew up, and kept the name through life of Thorkel Rumple. +This Thorkel became a very great man, and Godi, or magistrate, of the +Waterdale; and, as I have said, he was the first man to become a +Christian, when missionaries of the gospel came to Iceland. + +Very soon after Grettir’s birth Christianity became general, and in the +year 1000 was sanctioned by law; but there were few Christian priests in +the land, so that the knowledge of the truth had not spread much, and +taken hold and transformed men’s lives. Thorkel Rumple was now very old. +He was the bosom friend of Asmund, and every year when in the spring he +rode to the great assizes at Thingvalla, he always halted at least one +night at Biarg. Not only were Asmund and he men of like minds, and +friends, but they were also connected. In the spring of the year 1011, +Thorkel arrived as usual at Biarg, attended by a great many men, and he +was most warmly received by Asmund and his wife. He remained with them +three nights, and he and they fell a-talking about the prospects of the +two young men, Atli and Grettir. Asmund told his kinsman that Atli was +a quiet, amiable fellow, now at man’s estate, and likely to prove a good +farmer; a man who would worthily succeed him at Biarg when he died, and +keep the honour of the family untarnished, and would enlarge the estate. + +"Ah! I see," said Thorkel. "A useful man, good and respectable, like +yourself. But what about Grettir?" + +Asmund hesitated a moment before answering; but presently he said, "I +hardly know what to say of him. He is unruly, sullen, makes no friends, +and he has been a constant cause of vexation to me." + +Thorkel answered, "That is a bad prospect; however, let him come with me +to Thingvalla, and I shall be able to see on the journey of what stuff +he is made." + +To this Asmund agreed; and right glad was Grettir to think he was to go +to the great law-gathering. + +Thorkel had sixty men with him, and he rode in some state; for, as +already said, he was a great man. The way led over the great desolate +waste, called the Two-days-ride; but as on this expanse there were few +halting-places, the grass most scanty, and not sufficient to allow of a +stay, the party rode across it down to the settled lands nearer the +coast as quickly as they could, and reached Fleet-tongue in time to +sleep; so they took the bridles off their horses, and let them graze +with their saddles on. Their road had lain among the lakes, from which +issued the rivers that united above Biarg. In each lake floated a pair +of swans. Often they heard the loud hoarse cry of the great northern +diver; but there was hardly any grass, for the moor lies high, is swept +by the icy blasts from the glacier mountains to the south, and is made +up of black sand. Before them all day had stood towering into the sky +the Eyreksjokull, a mountain with perfectly precipitous sides of black +basalt, domed over with glittering ice. It resembles an immense +bridecake. At one place this mountain in former times had gaped, and +poured forth a fiery stream of lava that ran to the lakes, and for a +while converted them to steam. One can still see whence this great +fiery river issued from the mountain. Little did Grettir think then as +he passed under it, a boy of fourteen, that, for the three most lonely, +wretched years of his life, that great glacier-crowned mountain was to +be the one object on which his eye would rest. + +The men were all very tired after their long ride, and they slept till +late next morning, lying about on the scant herbage, around a fire made +of the roots of trailing willows that they had dug out of the sand. + +When they awoke many of the horses had strayed, and some had rolled in +the sand, burst their girths and shaken off their saddles. But they +could not have gone any great distance, for they were all hobbled. In +Iceland thick woollen ropes are put round the legs of the horses, below +the hocks, and twisted together into a knot with a knuckle-bone. This +serves as a secure hobble, and the wool being soft does not gall the +skin. + +It was customary in those days for every one to take his own provisions +with him, and most of those who went to the great assize carried +meal-bags athwart their saddles. Grettir found his horse at last, but +not his meal-bag, which had come off, and was lost; for the saddle was +turned under the belly of his cob. + +The horses could not have strayed far, not only because they were +hobbled, but also because the Tongue where they had been turned loose +was a narrow strip of land between two rivers; but then the slope was +considerable in places, and the meal-bag might have rolled down into the +water. + +As Grettir was running about hunting for his bag, he saw another man in +the same predicament. What is more, he saw that the rest of the party, +impatient to get on their way, would tarry no longer for them, and were +defiling down the hill to cross the river. + +Grettir was in great distress. Just then he saw the man run very +directly in one course, and at the same moment Grettir saw something +white lying under a mass of lava. It was towards this that the fellow +was running. Grettir ran towards it also. It was a meal-sack. The man +reached it first, and threw it over his shoulder. + +"What have you got there?" asked Grettir, coming up panting. + +"My meal-sack," answered the fellow. + +"Let me look at it," said Grettir. "It may be mine, not yours. Let me +look before you appropriate it." + +This the man refused to do. + +Grettir’s suspicion was confirmed, and he made a catch at the sack, and +tried to drag it away from the fellow. + +"Oh, yes!" sneered the man—who was a servant at a farm called The Ridge, +in Waterdale, and his name Skeggi,—"Oh, yes! you Middlefirthers think +you will have everything your own way." + +"That is not it," answered Grettir. "Let each man take his own. If the +sack be yours, keep it; if mine, I will have it." + +"It is a pity Audun is not here," scoffed the serving-man, "or he would +trip up your heels and throttle you, as he did on the ice when golfing." + +"But as he is not here," retorted Grettir, "you are not like to get the +better of me." + +Skeggi suddenly took his axe by the haft and hewed at Grettir’s head. +Grettir saw what he was at, and instantly put up his left hand and +caught the handle below where Skeggi’s hand held it; wrenched it out of +his grasp, and struck him with it, so that his skull was cleft. The +thing was done in a moment, and Grettir had done it in self-preservation +and without premeditation. He was but a boy of fourteen, and this was a +full-grown stout churl. + +Grettir at once seized the meal-bag, saw it was his own, and threw it +across his saddle. Then he rode after the company. Thorkel Krafla rode +at the head of his party, and he had no misgiving that anything untoward +had taken place. + +But, when Grettir came riding up with his meal-bag, the men asked him if +he had left Skeggi still in search of his. Grettir answered in song: + + "A rock Troll did her burden throw + Down on Skeggi’s skull, I trow. + O’er the battle-ogress saw I flow + Ruby rivers all aglow. + She her iron mouth a-gape + Did the life of Skeggi take." + + +This sounds like nonsense; to understand it one must have a notion of +what constituted poetry in the minds of Icelanders and Northmen. With +them the charm of poetry consisted in never calling anything by its +right name, but using instead of it some far-fetched similitude or +periphrasis. Thus—the burden of the rock Troll is iron. The Troll is +the spirit of the mountain, and the heaviest thing found in the mountain +is iron. The battle-ogress is the axe which bites in battle. The +verses that the Norse poets sang were a series of conundrums, and the +hearers puzzled their brains to make out the sense. This time they soon +understood what Grettir meant, and the men turned and went back to the +Tongue, and there found Skeggi dead. + +Grettir went on to Thorkel, and in few words, and to the point, told how +things had fallen out. He was not the aggressor. He had merely defended +himself. + +Thorkel was much troubled, and he told Grettir that he might either come +on to the assize or go home; that this act of man-slaughter would be +investigated at the law-gathering, and judgment given upon it. + +Grettir agreed to go on, and see how matters would turn out for him. + + + + + *CHAPTER IV.* + + *THE DOOM-DAY.* + + + _The Lava Plain—The Law of Man-slaughter—Grettir’s Sentence—The + Grettir Stone_ + + +That evening they arrived at Thingvalla. + +The great plain of Thingvalla is entirely composed of lava. At some +remote period before Iceland was colonized a beautiful snowy cone of +mountain, called "The Broad Shield," poured forth a deluge of molten +rock, which ran in a fiery river down a valley for some miles, +half-choking it up, and then spread out over a wide plain where +anciently there had been a great lake. Then all cooled, but after the +cooling, or whilst it was in process, there came a great crack, crack. +The great mass of lava must have been poured over some subterranean +caverns; at any rate the whole plain snapped and sank down a good many +feet, the lava becoming cracked and starred like glass. Nowadays, one +cannot cross the plain because it is all traversed with these fearful +cracks, chasms the bottom of which is filled with black water. Where +the plain sank deepest there water settled and formed the beautiful +Thingvalla Lake. + +At the side of one of the cracks where the plain broke off and sank is a +very curious pinnacle of black rock, and this was called the Hanging +Rock, as criminals were hung from it over the chasm. + +In one place two of the cracks unite, and there is a high mound of +blistered lava covered with turf and flowers between them. That is +called the Law Hill, because the judge and his assessors sat there, and +no one could get to them, nor could the accused get away across the +chasms. + +Now it was the law at this time in Iceland that when any man had been +killed his nearest relatives came to the assize, and the slayer appeared +by proxy and offered blood-money—that is to say, to pay a fine to the +relations, and so patch up the quarrel. But if they refused the money +then they were at liberty to pursue and kill him. There were no police +then. If the relations wanted to have the criminal punished they must +punish him themselves. + +Upon this occasion the case was discussed in the court on the finger of +rock between the two chasms, the people standing on the further sides of +these gulfs, listening, but unable to come a step nearer; and Thorkel +appeared for Grettir and offered to pay the blood-money. The relations +of the dead Skeggi, after a little fuss, agreed to accept a certain sum, +and Thorkel at once paid it. But the court ordered that, as Grettir had +acted with undue violence, and as there was no evidence except his word +that Skeggi had made the first attack, he should be outlawed, and leave +Iceland for three winters. If he set his foot in Iceland till three +winters had passed, his life was forfeit. He was allowed a moderate and +reasonable time for finding a ship that would take him out of the +country. + +When the assize was over all rode home, and the way that Thorkel and +Grettir went was up the valley that had been half-choked with the lava +that rolled down from Broad Shield. They came to a small grassy plain +with a gently-sloping hill rising out of it, a place where games took +place, the women sitting up the slope and watching the men below. Here +Grettir is said to have heaved an enormous stone. The stone is still +shown, and I have seen it. I also know that Grettir never lifted it; for +it has clearly been brought there by a glacier. But this is an instance +of the way in which stories get magnified in telling. No doubt that +Grettir did "put" there some big stone, and as it happened that at this +spot there was a great rock standing by itself balanced on one point, in +after days folks concluded that this must have been the stone thrown by +Grettir. + + + + + *CHAPTER V.* + + *THE VOYAGE.* + + + _Preparations for a Voyage—His Grandfather’s Sword—A Bitter + Jester—Vain Reproaches—Haflid’s Stratagem—The Tables + Turned—Shipwrecked_ + + +Grettir, then, was doomed by the court to leave his native land whilst +only a boy, and remain in banishment for three years—that is to say, +till he was eighteen. He was not over sorry for this, as he was tired +of being at home, and he wanted to see the world. + +There was a man called Haflid who had a ship in which he intended to +sail that autumn to Norway, and Asmund sent to him to ask him to take +Grettir out with him. + +Haflid answered that he had not heard a good account of the boy, and did +not particularly wish to have him in his boat; but he would stretch a +point, because of the regard he had for old Asmund, and he would take +him. + +Grettir got ready to start; but Asmund would not give him much wherewith +to trade when abroad, except some rolls of home-made wadmall, a coarse +felty cloth, and a stock of victuals for his voyage. Grettir asked his +father to give him some weapon; but the old man answered that he did not +trust him with swords and axes, he might put them to a bad use, and it +would be better he went without till he had learned to control his +temper and keep a check on his hand. + +So Grettir parted from his father without much love on either side; and +it was noticed when he left home that, though there were plenty of folks +ready to bid him farewell, hardly anyone said that he hoped to see him +come home again—a certain token that he was not liked by those who had +seen most of him. But indeed he had taken no pains to oblige anyone and +obtain the regard and love of anyone. + +His mother was an exception. She went along the road down the valley +with him, wearing a long cloak; and when they were alone, at some +distance from the house, she halted and drew out a sword from under her +cloak, and handing it to Grettir, said: "This sword belonged to +grandfather, and many a hard fight has it been in, and much good work +has it done. I give it to you, and hope it may stand you in good +stead." + +Grettir was highly pleased, and told his mother that he would rather +have the sword than anything else that could be given him. + +Haflid received Grettir in a friendly manner, and he went at once on +board; the ship’s anchor was heaved, and forth they went to sea. + +Now, directly Grettir got on board he looked about for a place where he +could be comfortable, and chose to make a berth for himself under a boat +that was slung on deck; then he put up his wadmall, making a sort of +felt lining or wall round against the wind and spray, leaving open only +the side inwards, and inside he piled his provisions and whatever he +had; then he lay down there and did not stir from his snuggery. Now, it +was the custom in those days for every man who went in a ship to help in +the navigation; but Grettir would not only do nothing, but from his den +he shouted or sang lampoons—that is, spiteful songs, making fun of every +man on board. They were not good-natured jokes, but bitter, stinging +ones. + +Naturally enough the other men were annoyed, and they were not slow to +tell Grettir what they thought of him. He made no other reply than a +lampoon. + +After the ship had lost sight of land a heavy sea was encountered, and +unfortunately the vessel was rather leaky and hardly seaworthy in dirty +weather. The weather was squally and very cold, so that the men suffered +much. Moreover, they had to bale out the water from the hold, and this +was laborious work. They had not pumps in those days. + +The gale increased, and the crew and passengers had been engaged for +several days and nights in baling without intermission, but Grettir +would not help. He lay coiled up in his wadmall under the boat, peering +out at the men and throwing irritating snatches of song at them. This +exasperated them to such an extent that they determined to take him and +throw him overboard. Haflid heard what they said, and he went to +Grettir and reproached him, and told him what was menaced. + +"Let them try to use force if they will," said Grettir. "All I can say +is that I sha’n’t go overboard alone as long as my sword will bite." + +"How can you behave as you do?" said Haflid. "Keep silence at least, and +do not madden the men with your mockery and sneers." + +"I cannot hold my tongue from stabbing," said Grettir. + +"Very well, then, stab on, but stab me." + +"No; you have not hurt me." + +"I say, stab me. Then, if the fellows hear you sing or say something +spiteful of me, and I disregard it, they will not mind so much the +ill-natured things you say of them." + +Grettir considered a moment, and then, remembering that he had heard of +something ridiculous that had once occurred to Haflid, he composed a +verse about it and shouted it derisively at Haflid as he walked away. + +"Just listen to him," said Haflid to the men. "Now he is slandering and +insulting me. He is an ill-conditioned cur, so ill-conditioned that I +will not stoop to take notice of his insolence. And if you take my +advice you will disregard him as I do." + +"Well," said the men, "if you shrug your shoulders and pay no regard to +his bark, why should we?" + +So Haflid, by his tact, smoothed over this difficulty, and averted a +danger from Grettir’s head. + +The weather slowly began to mend, and the sun shone out between the +clouds; but the wind was still strong, and the leak gained on the ship, +for her bottom was rotten. Now that the sun shone, the poor women who +had been aboard and under cover during the gale, crawled forth and came +to the side where the boat was, and where was a little shelter, and +there sat sewing; whilst Grettir still lay, like a dog in his hutch, +within. Then the men began to laugh, and say that Grettir had found +suitable company at last—he was not a man among men, but a milksop among +women. This was turning the tables on him, and this roused him. Out he +came crawling from his den, and ran aft to where the men were baling, +and asked to be given the buckets. The way in which it was done was for +one to go down into the hold into the water, and fill a tub or cask and +hoist it over his head to another man, who carried it up on deck and +poured it over the bulwarks. Grettir swung himself down into the hold, +and filled and heaved so fast that there had to be two men set to carry +up the baling casks, and then two more, four in all attending to him. +At one time he even kept eight going, so vigorously did he work;—but +then he was fresh, and they exhausted. + +When the men saw what a strong, active fellow Grettir was, they praised +him greatly, and Grettir, unaccustomed to praise, was delighted and +worked on vigorously, and thenceforth was of the utmost assistance in +the ship. + +They still had bad weather, thick mist, in which they drifted and lost +their bearings, and one night unawares they ran suddenly on a rock, and +the rotten bottom of the ship was crushed in. They had the utmost +difficulty in rescuing their goods and getting the boat ready; but +fortunately they were able to put all the women and the loose goods into +the boat, man her, and row off before the ship went to pieces. They +came to a sandy island, ran the boat ashore, and disembarked in the cold +and wet and darkness. + + + + + *CHAPTER VI.* + + *THE RED ROVERS.* + + + _Rescued from the Holm—The Sullen Guest—The Outlawed + Rovers—Yule-tide Gatherings—The Suspicious Craft—Grettir Guides + the Rovers—The Worst Ruffians in Norway—Grettir Entertains the + Band—A Crew of Revellers—When the Wine is in—Thorfin’s + Treasures—Prisoners and Unarmed—Mad with Drink and Fury—One + Against Twelve—In Hot Pursuit—The Slaughter in the Boat-shed—The + Last of the Band—Wearied with Slaying—Thorfin’s Return—A Moment + of Perplexity—Better than a Dozen Men—The Gift of the Sword_ + + +One morning, after a night of storm on the coast of Norway, the servants +ran into the hall of a wealthy bonder, named Thorfin, to tell him that +during the night a ship had been wrecked off the coast, and that the +crew and passengers were crowded on a little sandy holm, and were +signalling for help. + +The bonder sprang up and ran down to the shore. He ordered out a great +punt from his boat-house, and jumping in with his thralls, rowed to the +holm to rescue those who were there. + +These were, I need not tell you, the crew and passengers of Haflid’s +merchant vessel. Thorfin took the half-frozen wretches on board his +boat and rowed them to his farm, after which he returned to the islet +and brought away the wares. In the meantime his good housewife had been +lighting fires, preparing beds, brewing hot ale with honey to sweeten +it, and making every preparation she could think of for the sufferers. + +Haflid and the rest of the merchants or chapmen who had sailed with him +remained at the farm a week, whilst the women were recovering from the +cold and exposure and their goods were being dried and sorted. Then +they departed, with many thanks for the hospitality shown them, on their +way to Drontheim. + +Grettir, however, remained. Thorfin, the master of the house, did not +much like him. He did not ask him to stay; but then he had not the lack +of hospitality to bid him depart. In the farm Grettir never offered to +lend a hand in any of the work; he never joined in conversation, he sat +over the fire warming himself, and ate and drank heartily. + +Thorfin was much abroad, hunting or seeing after the wood-cutting, and +he often asked Grettir to come with him. But he was granted no other +answer than a shake of the head and a growl. Now the bonder was a +merry, kindly-hearted fellow, and he liked to have all about him +cheerful. It is no wonder, then, that Grettir, morose and indolent, +found no favour with him. + +Yule drew near, and Thorfin busked him to depart, with a number of his +attendants, to keep the festival at one of his farms distant a good +day’s journey. His wife was unable to accompany him, as his eldest +daughter was ill and needed careful nursing. Grettir he did not invite, +as his sullenness would have acted as a damper on the joviality of the +banquet. + +The farmer started for his house where he was going to spend Yule some +days before. A large company of guests were invited to meet him, so he +took thirty serving-men to attend on him and them. + +Norway was at this time being brought into order by Earl Erik, who was +putting down with a high hand the bands of rovers who had been the +terror of the country. He had outlawed all these men, and that meant +that whoever killed them could not be fined or punished in any way for +the slaying. Now Thorfin, the farmer with whom Grettir was staying, had +been very active against these rovers, and they bore him a grudge. +Among the worst of them were two brothers, Thorir wi’ the Paunch and Bad +Ogmund. They had not yet been caught, and they defied the power of the +Earl. They robbed wherever they went, burned farms over the heads of +the sleeping inmates, and with the points of their spears drove the +shrieking victims back into the flames when they attempted to escape. + +Christmas Eve was bright and sunny, and the sick girl was sufficiently +recovered to be brought out to take the air on the sunny side of the +great hall, leaning on her mother’s arm. + +Grettir spent the whole day out of doors, not in the most amiable mood +at being shut out from the merry-makings, and left to keep house with +the women and eight dunderheaded churls. He fed his discontent by +sitting on a headland watching the boats glide by, as parties went to +convivial gatherings at the houses of their friends. The deep blue sea +was speckled with sails, as though gulls were plunging in the waters. +Now a stately dragon-ship rolled past, her fearful carved head +glittering with golden scales, her sails spread like wings before the +breeze, and her banks of oars dipping into the sea and flashing as they +rose. Now a wherry was rowed by laden with cakes and ale, and the +boatmen’s song rang merrily through the crisp air. + +The day began to decline, and Grettir was on the point of returning to +the farm, when the strange proceedings of a craft at no great distance +attracted his attention. He noticed that she stole along in the shadows +of the islets, keeping out of sight as much as possible. Grettir could +make out of her just this much, that she was floating low in the water, +and was built for speed. As she stranded the rowers jumped on the +beach. Grettir counted them, and found they were twelve, all armed men. +They burst into Thorfin’s boat-house, thrust out his punt, and in its +place drew in their own vessel, and pulled her up on the rollers. + +Mischief was a-brewing—that was clear. So Grettir went down the hill, +and sauntered up to the strangers, with his hands in his pockets, +kicking the pebbles before him. + +"Who is your leader?" he asked curtly. + +"I am. What do you want with me?" answered a stout coarse man—"Thorir, +whom they nickname ’wi’ the Paunch.’ Here is my brother Ogmund. I +reckon that Thorfin knows our names well enough. Don’t you think so, +brother? We have come here to settle a little outstanding reckoning. +Is he at home?" + +"You are lucky fellows," laughed Grettir, "coming here in the very nick +of time. The bonder is away with all his able-bodied and fighting men, +and won’t be back for a couple of days. His wife and daughter are, +however, at the farm. Now is your time if you have old scores to wipe +off; for he has left all his things that he values unprotected, silver, +clothing, ale, and food in abundance." + +Thorir listened, then turning to Ogmund he said, "This is as I had +expected. But what a chatterbox this fellow is, he lets out everything +without being asked questions." + +"Every man knows the use of his tongue," said Grettir. "Now, follow me, +and I will do what I can for you." + +The rovers at once followed. Then Grettir took fat Thorir by the hand +and led him to the farm, talking all the way as hard as his tongue could +wag. Now the housewife happened at the time to be in the hall, and +hearing Grettir thus talking, she was filled with surprise, and called +out to know whom he had with him. + +"I have brought you guests for Yule," said Grettir. "We shall not keep +it in as dull a fashion as we feared. Here come visitors uninvited, but +merry, uncommon merry." + +"Who are they?" asked the housewife. + +"Thorir wi’ the Paunch and Ogmund the Bad, and ten of their comrades." + +Then she cried out: "What have you done? These are the worst ruffians +in all Norway. Is this the way you repay the kindness Thorfin has shown +you in housing and keeping you here, without it’s costing you anything?" + +"Stay your woman’s tongue!" growled Grettir. "Now bestir yourself and +bring out dry clothes for the guests." + +Then the housewife ran away crying, and her sick daughter, who saw the +house invaded by ill-looking men all armed, hid herself. + +"Well," said Grettir, "as the women are too scared to attend on you, I +will do what is necessary; so give me your wet clothes, and let me wipe +your weapons and set them by the fire lest they get rusted." + +"You are a different fellow from all the rest in the house." + +"I do not belong to the house. I am a stranger, an Icelander." + +"Then I don’t mind taking you along with us when we go away." + +"As you will," answered the young fellow; "only mind, I don’t behave +like this to every one." + +Then the freebooters gave him their weapons, and he wiped the salt water +from them, and laid them aside in a warm spot. Next he removed their +wet garments, and brought them dry suits which he routed out of the +clothes-chests belonging to Thorfin and his men. + +By this time it was night. Grettir brought in logs and faggots of fir +branches, and made a roaring fire that filled the great hall with ruddy +light and warmth. In those days the halls were long buildings with a +set of hearths running down the middle, and benches beside the fires. + +"Now, then, my men," said Grettir, "come to the table and drink, for I +doubt not you are thirsty with long rowing." + +"We are ready," said they. "But where are the cellars?" + +"Oh, if you please, I will bring you ale." + +"Certainly, you shall attend on us," said Thorir. + +Then Grettir went and fetched the best and strongest ale in Thorfin’s +cellars, and poured it out for the men. They were very tired and +thirsty, and they drank eagerly. Grettir did not stint them in meat or +drink, and at last he took his place by them, and recited many tales +that made them laugh, he also sang them songs; but they were becoming +fast too tipsy to rack their brains to find out the meaning in the +poetry. + +Not one of the house-churls showed his face in the hall that evening; +they slunk about the farm, in the stables and sheds, frightened and +trembling. + +Then said Thorir: "I’ll tell you what, my men. I like this young chap, +and I doubt our finding another so handy and willing. What say you all +to our taking him into our band?" + +The pirates banged their drinking-horns on the table in token of +approval. Then Grettir stood up and said: + +"I thank you for the offer, and if you are in the same mind to-morrow +morning when the ale is no longer in your heads, I will strike hands and +go with you." + +"Let us drink brotherhood at once," shouted the rovers. + +"Not so," said Grettir calmly. "I will not have it said that I took +advantage of you when you were not sober. It is said that when the wine +is in the wit is out." + +They all protested that they would be of the same mind next morning, but +Grettir stuck to his decision. They were now becoming so tipsy that he +proposed they should go to bed. + +"But first of all," said he, "I think you will like to run your eyes +over Thorfin’s storehouse where he keeps all his treasures." + +"That we shall!" roared Thorir, staggering to his feet. + +Then Grettir took a blazing firebrand from the hearth, and led the way +out of the hall into the night. + +The storehouse was detached from the main buildings. It was very +strongly built of massive logs, firmly mortised together. The door also +was very solid, and the whole stood on a strong stone basement, and a +flight of stone steps led up to the door. Adjoining the storehouse was +a lean-to building divided off from it by a partition of planks. + +The sharp frosty air of night striking on the faces of the revellers +increased their intoxication, and they became very riotous, staggering +against each other, uttering howls and attempting to sing. + +Drawing back the bolt Grettir flung the door open, and showed the twelve +rovers into the treasury; and he held the flaming torch above his head +and showed the silver-mounted drinking-horns, the embroidered garments, +the rich fur mantles, gold bracelets, and bags filled with silver coins +obtained from England. The drunken men dashed upon the spoil, knocking +each other over and quarrelling for the goods they wanted. + +In the midst of this noise and tumult Grettir quietly extinguished the +torch, stepped outside and ran the bolt into its place; he had shut them +all—all twelve, into the strong-room, and not one of them had his +weapons about him. + +Then Grettir ran to the farm door and shouted for the housewife. But +she would not answer, as she mistrusted him; and no wonder, for he had +seemed to be hand and glove with the pirates. + +"Come, come!" shouted Grettir, "I have caught all twelve, and all I need +now are weapons. Call up the thralls and arm them. Quick! not a moment +must be lost." + +"There are plenty of weapons here," answered the poor woman, emerging +from her place of concealment. "But, Grettir, I mistrust you." + +"Trust or no trust," said Grettir, "I must have weapons. Where are the +serving-men? Here, Kolbein! Swein! Gamli! Rolf! Confound the +rascals, where are they skulking?" + +"Over Thorfin’s bed hangs a great barbed spear," said the housewife. +"You will also find a sword and helmet and cuirass. No lack of weapons, +only pluck to wield them is needed." + +Grettir seized the casque and spear, girded on the sword and dashed into +the yard, begging the woman to send the churls after him. She called +the eight men, and they came up timidly—that is to say, four appeared +and took the weapons, but the other four, after showing their faces, ran +and hid themselves again, they were afraid to measure swords with the +terrible rovers. + +In the meantime the pirates had been trying the door, but it was too +massive for them to break through, so they tore down the partitions of +boards between the store and the lean-to room at the side. They were mad +with drink and fury. They broke down the door of the side-room easily +enough, and came out on the platform at the head of the stone steps just +as Grettir reached the bottom. + +Thorir and Ogmund were together. In the fitful gleams of the moon they +seemed like demons as they scrambled out, armed with splinters of deal +they had broken from the planks and turned into weapons. The brothers +plunged down the narrow stairs with a howl that rang through the +snow-clad forest for miles. Grettir planted the boar-spear in the +ground and caught Thorir on its point. The sharp double-edged blade, +three feet in length, sliced into him and came out between his +shoulders, then tore into Ogmund’s breast a span deep. The yew shaft +bent like a bow, and flipped from the ground the stone against which the +butt-end had been planted. The wretched men crashed over the stair, +tried to rise, staggered, and fell again. Grettir trod on Thorir, +wrenched the spear out of him, and then running up the steps cut down +another rover as he came through the door. Then the rest came out +stumbling over each other, some armed with bits of broken stick, others +unarmed, and as they came forth Grettir hewed at them with the sword, or +thrust at them with the spear. + +In the meantime the churls had come up, armed indeed, but not knowing +how to use the weapons, and in a condition of too great terror to use +them to any purpose. The pirates saw that they were being worsted, and +their danger sobered them. They went back into the room and ripped the +planks till they had obtained serviceable pieces, and then came two +together down the stair, warding off Grettir’s blows with their sticks, +and not attempting to strike. Then they forced him back and allowed +space and time for those behind to leap down to the ground. If then they +had combined they might have recovered the mastery, but they did not +believe that they were assailed by a single enemy, they thought that +there must have been many; consequently those who had leaped from the +platform, instead of attacking Grettir from behind, ran away across the +farmyard, and those who were warding off his blows, finding themselves +unsupported, lost heart, and leaped down as well and attempted to +escape. The yard was full of flying frightened wretches, too blinded by +their fear to find the gate, and in the wildness of their terror they +climbed or leaped over the yard wall and ran towards the boat-house. +Grettir went after them. They plunged into the dark boat-shed, and +possessed themselves of the oars, whilst some tried to run their boat +down into the water. Grettir followed them in the gloom, smiting to +right and left. The bewildered wretches in the darkness hit each other, +stumbled and fell in the boat, and some wounded went into the water. + +The thralls, content that the pirates had cleared out of the yard, did +not trouble themselves to pursue them, but went into the farmhouse. The +good woman in vain urged them to go after and succour Grettir. They +thought they had done quite enough. It is true, they had neither killed +nor wounded anyone, but they had seen some men killed. So Grettir got +no help from them. He was still in the boat-house, and he had this +advantage: the boat-house was open to the air on the side that faced the +sea, whilst the further side was closed with a door, consequently +Grettir was himself in shadow. But the moon shone on the water, and he +could see the black figures of the rovers cut sharply against this +silver background. So he could see where to strike, whilst he himself +was unseen. + +One stroke from an oar reached him on the shoulder, and for the moment +numbed his arm; but he speedily recovered sensation, and killed two more +of the ruffians; then the remaining four made a dash together, past him, +through the door, and separating into pairs, fled in opposite +directions. Grettir went after one of the couples and tracked them to a +neighbouring farm, where they dashed into a granary and hid among the +straw. Unfortunately for them most of the wheat had been thrashed out, +so that only a few bundles remained. Grettir shut and bolted the door +behind him, then chased the poor wretches like rats from corner to +corner, till he had cut them both down. Then he opened the door, and +cast the corpses outside. + +In the meanwhile the weather was changing, the sky had become overcast +with a thick snow fog that rolled up from the sea, so that Grettir, on +coming out, saw that he must abandon the pursuit of the remaining two. +Moreover, his arm pained him, his strength was failing him, and a sense +of overpowering fatigue stole over him. + +The housewife had placed a lamp in a window of a loft as a guide to +Grettir in the fog; the stupid house-thralls could not be induced by her +to go out in search of him, and she was becoming uneasy at his +protracted absence. The fog turned into small snow, thick and blinding, +and Grettir struggled through it with difficulty, as the weariness he +felt became almost overpowering. At last he reached the farm and +staggered in through the door. He could hardly speak. He went to the +table, took a horn of mead, drank some, and then threw himself down +among the rushes on the floor by the fire, full armed grasping the +sword, and in a moment was asleep. + +He did not wake for twelve hours; but the cautious and prudent housewife +had sent out the carles in search of the pirates. The dead bodies were +found, some in the yard, some in the boat-house; then Grettir woke and +came to them and pointed out in what direction the only remaining two +had run. The snow had fallen so thick that their traces could not be +followed, but before nightfall they were discovered, dead, under a rock +where they had taken refuge; they had died of cold and loss of blood. +All the bodies were collected and a great cairn of stones was piled over +them. + +When they had been buried, then the housewife made Grettir take the high +seat in the hall, and she treated him with the utmost respect, as he +deserved. + +Time passed, and Thorfin prepared to return home; he dismissed his +guests, and he and his men got into their boat to return home. No +tidings had reached him of the events that had happened whilst he had +been away. The first thing he saw as he came rowing to his harbour was +his punt lying stranded. This surprised and alarmed him, and he bade his +men row harder. They ran to the boat-house, and then saw it occupied by +a vessel, on the rollers, which there was no mistaking; he knew it well, +it belonged to those redoubted pirates Thorir and Ogmund. For a moment +he was silent with the terror and grief that came on him. "The Red +Rovers!" he said, when he recovered the stunning sense of alarm. "The +Red Rovers are here—they are on my farm. God grant they have not hurt +my wife and daughter!" + +Then he considered what was to be done, whether it was best to go at +once to the farm, or to make a secret approach to it from different +quarters, and surprise the enemy. + +Grettir was to blame. He ought not to have allowed Thorfin to be thus +thrown into uncertainty and distress. He had seen the master’s boat +round the headland and enter the bay, but he would neither go himself to +meet him on the strand, nor suffer anyone else to go. + +"I do not care even if the bonder be a bit disturbed at what he sees," +said the young man. + +"Then let me go," urged the wife. + +"You are mistress, do as you like," said Grettir bluntly. + +So the housewife and her daughter went down towards the boat-house, and +when Thorfin saw them he ran to meet them, greatly relieved but much +perplexed, and he clasped his wife to his heart and said, "God be +praised that you and my child are safe! But tell me how matters have +stood whilst I have been away, for I cannot understand the boat being +where I found it." + +"We have been in grievous peril," answered his wife. "But the +shipwrecked boy whom you sheltered has been our protector, better than a +dozen men." + +Then he said, "Sit down on this rock by me and tell me all." + +They took each other by the hand and sat on a stone; and the attendants +gathered round, and the housewife told them the whole story from +beginning to end. When she spoke of the way in which the young +Icelander had led the tipsy rovers into the storehouse and fastened them +in, without their swords, the men burst into a shout of joy; and when +her tale was concluded, their exultant cries rang so loud that Grettir +heard them in the farmhouse. + +Thorfin said nothing to interrupt the thread of his wife’s story; and +after she had done he remained silent, rapt in thought. No one ventured +to disturb him. Presently he looked up, and said quietly, "That is a +good proverb which says, ’Never despair of anyone.’ Now I must speak a +word with Grettir." + +Thorfin walked with his wife to the farm, and when he saw Grettir he +held out both his hands to him, and thanked him. + +"This I say to you," said Thorfin, "which few would say to their best of +friends—that I hope some day you may need my help, and then I will prove +to you how thankful I am for what you have done. I can say no more." + +Grettir thanked him, and spent the rest of the winter at his house. The +story of what he had done spread through all the country, and was much +praised, especially by such as had suffered from the violence of the Ked +Rovers. But Thorfin made to Grettir a present, in acknowledgment of +what he had done; and that present was the sword that had hung above his +bed, with which Grettir had killed so many of the rovers. Now, +concerning this sword a tale has to be told. + + + + + *CHAPTER VII.* + + *THE STORY OF THE SWORD.* + + _The Light on the Cliff—The Grave of Karr the Old—The Visit to + the Ness—The Chamber of the Dead—The Shape on the Throne—In the + Dead Man’s Arms—A Fearful Wrestle—The Dead Vanquished—The + Dragon’s Treasure—The Tale of the Sword—The Two Swords of + Grettir_ + + +Some little while before the slaying of the Red Rovers, a strange event +had taken place. + +Grettir had made the acquaintance of a man called Audun, who lived at a +little farm at some distance from the house of Thorfin, and he walked +over there occasionally to sit and talk with his friend. As he returned +late at night he noticed that a strange light used to dance at the end +of a cliff that overhung the sea, at the end of a headland; a lonely +desolate headland it was, without house or stall near it. Grettir had +never been there, and as it was so bare, he knew that no one lived on +that headland, so he could not account for the light. One day he said +to Audun that he had seen this strange light, which was not steady but +flickered; and he asked him what it meant. + +Audun at once became very grave, and after a moment’s hesitation said, +"You are right. No one lives on that ness, but there is a great mound +there, under which is buried Karr the Old, the forefather of your host +Thorfin; and it is said that much treasure was buried with him. That is +why the ghostly light burns above the mound, for—you must know that +flames dance over hidden treasure." + +"If treasure be hidden there, I will dig it up," said Grettir. + +"Attempt nothing of the kind," said Audun, "or Thorfin will be angry. +Besides, Karr the Old is a dangerous fellow to have to deal with. He +walks at night, and haunts all that headland and has scared away the +dwellers in the nearest farms. No one dare live there because of him. +That is why the Ness is all desolate without houses." + +"I will stay the night here," said Grettir, "and to-morrow we will go +together to the Ness, and take spade and pick and a rope, and I will see +what can be found." + +Audun did not relish the proposal, but he did not like to seem +behindhand with Grettir, and he reluctantly agreed to go with him. + +So next day the two went out on the Ness together. They passed two +ruined farmhouses, the buildings rotting, the roofs fallen in. Those +who had lived in them had been driven away by the dweller in the old +burial mound, or barrow. The Norse name for these sepulchral mounds is +_Haug_, pronounced almost like How; and where in England we have places +with the names ending in _hoe_, there undoubtedly in former times were +such mounds. Thus, in Essex are Langenhoe and Fingringhoe, that is to +say the Long Barrow and Fingar’s How. Also, the Hoe, the great walk at +Plymouth above the sea, derives its name from some old burial mound now +long ago destroyed. + +The Ness was a finger of land running out into the sea, and on it grew +no trees, only a little coarse grass; at the end rose a great circular +bell-shaped mound, with a ring of stones set round it, to mark its +circumference. Grettir began to dig at the summit, and he worked hard. +The day was short, and the sun was touching the sea as his pickaxe went +through an oak plank, into a hollow space beneath, and he knew at once +that he had struck into the chamber of the dead. He worked with +redoubled energy, and tore away the planks, leaving a black hole beneath +of unknown depth, but which to his thinking could not be more than seven +feet beneath him. Then he called to Audun for the rope. The end he +fastened round his waist, and bade his friend secure the other end to a +pole thrown across the pit mouth. When this was done, Audun cautiously +let Grettir down into the chamber of the dead. + +Now, you must know that in heathen times what was often done with old +warriors was to draw up a boat on the shore, and to seat the dead man in +the cabin, with his horse slain beside him, sometimes some of his slaves +or thralls were also killed and put in with him, and his choicest +treasures were heaped about him. This men did because they thought that +the dead man would want his weapons, his raiment, his ornaments, his +horse and his servants in the spirit world. Of late years such a mound +has been opened in Norway, and a great ship found in it, well preserved, +with the old dead chief’s bones in it. When a ship was not buried, then +a chamber of strong planks was built, and he was put in that, and the +earth heaped over him. Into such a chamber had Grettir now dug. + +He soon reached the bottom, and was in darkness, only a little light +came in from above, through the hole he had broken in the roof of the +cabin or chamber. His feet were among bones, and these he was quite +sure were horse bones. Then he groped about. + +As his eyes became more accustomed to the darkness, he discerned a +figure seated in a throne. It was the long-dead Karr the Old. He was +in full harness, with a helmet on his head with bull’s horns sticking +out, one on each side; his hands were on his knees, and his feet on a +great chest. Round his neck was a gold torque or necklet, made of bars +of twisted gold, hooked together behind the head. Grettir in the dark +could only just make out the glimmer of the gold, but it seemed to him +that a phosphorescent light played about the face of the dead chief. + +So little light was left, that Grettir hasted to collect what he could. +There stood a brazen vessel near the chair, in which were various +articles, probably of worth, but it was too dark for Grettir to see what +they were. He brought the vessel to the rope and fastened the end of +the cord to its handle. Then he went back to the old dead man and drew +away a short sword that lay on his lap, and this he placed in the brass +vessel. Next he began to unhook the gold torque from his neck, and as +he did this the phosphorescent flame glared strangely about the dead +man’s face. + +Then, all at once, as both his hands were engaged undoing the hook +behind Karr’s neck, he was clipped. The dead man’s arms had clutched +him, and with a roar like a bull Karr the Old stood up, holding him +fast, and now all the light that had played over his features gathered +into and glared out of his eyes. + +When Audun heard the roar, he was so frightened that he ran from the +barrow, and did not stay his feet till he reached home, feeling +convinced that the ghost or whatever it was that lived in the tomb had +torn Grettir to pieces. + +Then began in the chamber of the dead a fearful wrestle. Grettir was at +times nigh on smothered by the gray beard of the dead chief, that had +been growing, growing, in the vault, ever since he had been buried. + +How long that terrible struggle continued no one can tell. Grettir had +to use his utmost force to stand against Karr the Old. The two wrestled +up and down in the chamber, kicking the horse bones about from side to +side, stumbling over the coffer, and the brass vessel, and the horse’s +skull, striking against the sides, and when they did this then masses of +earth and portions of broken plank fell in from above. + +At last Karr’s feet gave way under him and he fell, and Grettir fell +over him. Then instantly he laid hold of his sword, and smote off Old +Karr’s head and laid it beside his thigh. + +This, according to Norse belief, was the only way in which to prevent a +dead man from walking, who had haunted the neighbourhood of his tomb, +and in the Icelandic sagas we hear of other cases where the same +proceeding was gone through. The Norsemen held to something more +dreadful than ghosts walking; they thought that some evil spirit entered +into the bodies of the dead, that when this happened the dead no longer +decayed, but walked, and ate, and drank, and fought, very much like +living ruffians, but with redoubled strength. Then, when this happened, +nothing was of any avail save the digging up of the dead man, cutting +off his head and laying it at his thigh. + +When Grettir had done this, he despoiled Karr the Old of his helm, his +breast-plate, his torque, and he took the box on which the feet had +rested. He fastened all together to the rope, and called to Audun to +haul up. He received no answer, so he swarmed up himself, and finding +that his friend had run away he pulled up what he had tied together, and +carried the whole lot in his arms to the house of Thorfin. Thorfin and +his party were at supper; and when Grettir came in, the bonder looked +up, and asked why he did not keep regular hours, and be at the table +when the meal began. Grettir made no other answer than to throw all he +carried down on the supper-table before the master. Thorfin raised his +eyebrows when he saw so much treasure. + +"Where did you get all this?" he asked. + +Then Grettir answered in one of his enigmatical songs: + + "Thou who dost the wave-shine shorten, + My attempt has been to find + In the barrow what was hidden, + Deep in darkness black and blind. + Nothing of the dragon’s treasure + With the dead is left behind." + + +By the wave-shine shortener he meant Thorfin; the dragon’s treasure +meant gold, because dragons were thought to line their lairs with that +metal. + +Thorfin saw that Grettir’s eye looked longingly at the short sword that +had lain on the knees of Karr. He said: "It was a heathen custom in old +times to bury very much that was precious along with the dead. I do not +blame you for what you have done; but this I will say, that there is no +one else about this place who would have ventured to attempt what you +have done. As for that sword on which you cast your eyes so longingly, +it has ever been in our family, and I cannot part with it till you have +shown that you are worthy to wear it." + +Then that sword was hung up over Thorfin’s bed. You have heard how +Grettir did show that he was worthy to wear it, and also how Thorfin +gave it him. + +Now, this tale about the sword will very well illustrate what was said +at the beginning, that the history of Grettir contains, in the main, +truth; but that this substance of truth has been embroidered over by +fancy. What is true is, that during the winter in which he was with +Thorfin he did dig into the mound in which Karr was buried, and did take +thence his treasures and his sword. But all the story of his fight with +the dead man was added. The same story occurs in a good many other +sagas, as in that of Hromund Greip’s son, who also got a sword by +digging into a barrow for it. When the history of Grettir was told, and +this adventure of his was related, those who told the story imported +into it the legend of the fight of Hromund in the grave with the dead +man, so as to make the history of Grettir more amusing. As you will see +by the tale, no one else was present when it happened, for Audun had run +away, and it was not like Grettir to boast of what he had done. This +was an embellishment added by the story-teller, and from the storyteller +the incident passed into the volume of the story-writer. + +Grettir had now two good swords; one long, which he called Jokull’s +Gift, that he had received from his mother, and this short one that he +wore at his girdle, which he had taken out of the grave of Karr the Old, +and which he had won fairly by his bravery in the defence of the house +and family of Thorfin. + + + + + *CHAPTER VIII.* + + *OF THE BEAR.* + + + _Grettir goes North—Biorn the Braggart—The Bear’s Den—Biorn’s + Feat—A Hunting Party—The Lost Cloak—Grettir Seeks the Bear + Alone—Grettir’s Hardest Tussle—The Fall Over the Cliff—Thorgils + Acts as Peacemaker—Grettir Restrains Himself_ + + +When spring came, then Grettir left his friend Thorfin, and went north +along the Norwegian coast, and was everywhere well received, because the +story of how he had killed twelve rovers, he being as yet but a boy, was +noised through all the country, and every one who had anything to lose +felt safer because that wicked gang was broken up. Nothing of +consequence is told about him during that summer. For the winter he did +not return to Thorfin as asked, but accepted the invitation of another +bonder, named Thorgils. + +Thorgils was a merry, pleasant man, and he had a great company in his +house that winter. Among his visitors was a certain Biorn, a distant +cousin, a man whom Thorgils did not like, as he was a slanderous-tongued +fellow, and moreover he was a braggart. He was one of those persons we +meet with not infrequently who cannot endure to hear another praised; +who, the moment a good word is spoken of someone, immediately puts in a +nasty, spiteful word, and tells an unkind story, so as to drag that +person down in the general opinion. At the same time, concerning +himself he had only praiseworthy and wonderful feats to relate about his +wit, his wisdom, his craft, his knowledge of the world, about his +strength and courage. + +Thorgils knew how much, or rather how little, to believe of what Biorn +said, and he did not pay much regard to his talk. But now Grettir had +an opportunity of seeing and of feeling how mistaken had been his +conduct on board the ship upon which he had come to Norway, when he made +lampoons on the sailors and chapmen, and stung them with sharp words. +He saw how disagreeable a fellow Biorn was, how much he was disliked, +and by some despised; and he kept very greatly to himself and out of +Biorn’s way. He did not wish to quarrel with him, because he was the +relative of his host, and he was afraid that his anger would get the +better of him if he did come to words with the braggart. + +Grettir had grown a great deal since he left Iceland, and he was now a +strapping fellow, broad built but not short. He was not handsome, but +his face was intelligent. + +It fell out that a bear gave much trouble that winter to Thorgils and +the neighbouring farmers. It was so strong and so daring that no folds +were secure against it, and Thorgils and the other farmers endured +severe losses through the depredations of Bruin. + +Before Yule, a party was formed to go in search of and kill the bear, +but all that was done was to find the lair. + +The bear had taken up his abode in the face of a tremendous cliff that +overhung the sea. There was but one path up to the cave, and that was +so narrow that only one man could creep along it at a time. Moreover, if +his foot slipped he would be flung over the edge upon the rocks or +skerries below against which the waves dashed. + +"When the den of the bear had been discovered," Biorn said, "That is the +main thing. Now I know where the rogue lies, I’ll settle with him, +trust me. I’ve been the death of scores of bears. My only dread is lest +he be afraid of me, and will not come on." + +And, actually, Biorn went out on several moonlit nights to watch for the +bear. He saw that the only way to deal with him would be to stop the +track from the den, and fight him as he attempted to come away. He took +his short sword and great shield with him covered with ox-hide, and one +night he laid himself down on the path of the bear, and put his shield +over him. He thought that Bruin would come smelling at the great +hide-covered shield, and then all at once he (Biorn) would spring up and +drive his sword into the heart of the bear. That was his plan—and not a +bad plan—only, unfortunately for Biorn, the bear did not come out for a +long time. He had got an inkling that a man was watching for him, so he +was shy, and whilst he waited before venturing forth, Biorn, who had +been drinking pretty freely that evening, went to sleep. + +Presently the bear came out, crept cautiously down the narrow track, +snuffing about, and when he came to Biorn, he plucked with his claws at +the shield, and with one wrench had it off and tumbled it down the +cliff. + +Biorn woke with a start, rose to his knees, saw the huge bear before +him, and in a moment turned tail, and ran as hard as he could run to +Thorgils’ house, and was too scared to be able to boast that he had +killed or wounded the bear. + +Next morning his shield was found where the bear had thrown it, and much +fun did this adventure of the braggart occasion. This made him very +irritable and more spiteful than ever. + +Thorgils now said that really something must be done to rid the +neighbourhood of the bear, so a party of eight set out well armed with +spears; of this party were Biorn and Grettir. They reached the point +where the track to the den ran up the cliff to the lair, and one man +after another tried it. But there was no getting at the bear; for as +soon as a man came near the beast put his great forepaws forth and +caught and snapped the spear-heads or beat them down. As already said, +only one could crawl up at a time. + +Grettir had gone out that day in a fur coat that his friend Thorfin had +given him, and which he greatly valued. When the onslaught against the +bear began, he took off his fur coat, and folded it, and put it on a +stone. Biorn saw this, and, when none observed, he took the fur coat +and threw it into the cave of the bear. Grettir did not see what had +been done till the party, disappointed with their want of success, made +ready to depart, when he missed it, and then some suspicion entered his +head as to what had been done with it, and by whom, but he said nothing. + +As they walked home, Biorn began to taunt Grettir with having done +nothing all day. He could kill robbers who were unarmed and were drunk, +perhaps asleep, but a bear was too serious an adversary for him. + +Grettir said nothing, but as his gaiter thong became broken, he stopped +and stooped to mend it. Thorgils asked if they should wait for him. +Grettir declined. + +"Oh," said Biorn, "it is all nonsense. It is a pretence. He means to +have all the glory of fighting the bear alone when we have gone on." + +He said the truth, but he had no idea when he spoke that it was the +truth. + +Grettir tarried till the party had crossed a hill and was out of sight, +then he turned and went back to the bear’s den. He slipped his hand +through the loop at the end of the handle of his short sword that he had +taken from the grave of Karr the Old, and let it hang on his wrist, but +he held the long sword, Jokull’s gift, by the pommel. His plan was to +use the long sword if needed, but if the bear came to close quarters he +would throw it down and grasp the short one without having to put his +hand to his girdle for it. Very cautiously he crept along the path. +Bruin saw him, and was now angry and hungry, and came down to meet him. +The bear was somewhat above him; Grettir halted, and the bear stood up +growling on his hind-legs. + +At once the long sword was whirled and fell on the right wrist above the +paw, and cut it off. The bear immediately fell down on all-fours; but +the amputated paw was on the side away from the wall of rock, and when +he went down on the stump he was overbalanced, and came down with his +whole weight on Grettir. + +Grettir let fall his long sword at once, and with both hands grasped the +brute’s ears, and held his head off lest he should get a bite at him. +Grettir, in after years, was wont to say that this was the hardest +tussle he had in his life—it was even worse than anything he had to do +with the rovers. For if the beast had but been able to nip him on the +breast, or shoulder, or face with his great fangs, all would have been +up with him. Moreover, the ears were so smooth that he had to do his +utmost not to let them slip. Grettir had the wit to drag back the +brute’s head to the rock, and by so doing the bear could not use his +only uninjured fore-leg, armed with terrible claws, which would have +ripped Grettir’s clothes and flesh. + +In the struggle the two went over the edge, and for a moment Grettir +thought, as they spun in the air, that he was lost. But the bear was +heavier than the lad, consequently he fell crash on the rocks at the +bottom first, and Grettir on him, breaking Grettir’s fall by his great +body. The bear’s back was broken. + +Then Grettir got up, shook himself, left the bear, went up the path and +found his fur coat torn to tatters, and he put it about him, recovered +also his long sword, and took the cut-off paw of the bear. + +He now went back to Thorgils’ house, and when he came into the hall +where the fires were blazing, every one laughed to see him in his +tattered coat; but when he gave the paw of the bear to Thorgils the +general merriment exchanged to surprise. Biorn, however, could not +contain himself for vexation, and launched forth some coarse jest that +made Grettir’s blood tingle in his veins. + +"Do not listen to him," said Thorgils. "You are a brave fellow, and +there are not many your like." Then turning to Biorn, he said, +"Kinsman, I advise and warn you to keep a civil tongue in your head, or +you will come to rue it, and have to be taught better manners." + +"Oh, if I am to learn manners from Grettir, that is sending me to a cub +indeed!" + +"I want to know," said Grettir, "whether you threw my fur coat into the +den?" + +"I am not afraid of saying that I did." + +"Will you give me another in its place?" + +"I have not the smallest intention of doing charity to beggars." + +The braggart knew that Grettir was restraining himself because he did +not wish to quarrel with his host’s kinsman, and he took advantage of +his knowledge. But Thorgils was greatly distressed and ashamed, and he +said to Grettir: + +"Pay no attention to his words. He has insulted you, and I will pay you +a fine in compensation for his insult, that it may be buried and +forgotten." + +That was customary then. When one had hurt another in body or in honour +by blow or foul word, he was bound to pay a sum of money; if he did not +then the man injured was required by the laws of honour to revenge the +injury. + +But when Biorn heard this proposal, he shouted out that he would not +suffer the matter to be so compromised; he was not ashamed of his words. +Thorgils drew Grettir aside, and said to him that his kinsman was a +badly-behaved, brutal fellow, but that he hoped Grettir would not take +up the quarrel in his house; and Grettir promised him solemnly that he +would not attempt to take revenge for the rudeness of Biorn so long as +they were both inmates of his house. + +"As for what may happen between you later," said Thorgils, "I wash my +hands of responsibility. If Biorn is offensive to those who have never +hurt him, he must take the consequences." + +So matters remained; only that Biorn, presuming on his position, became +daily more arrogant, intolerable, and abusive, so that Grettir had to +exercise daily self-restraint to keep his hands off him. And glad he +was when spring came, that he might get away to another part of Norway. + +As for Biorn, he went in the summer to England in a ship that belonged +to Thorgils, trading there for Thorgils and for himself. Consequently, +all that summer he and Grettir did not meet. + + + + + *CHAPTER IX.* + + *THE SLAYING OF BIORN.* + + + _The Meeting on the Island—Biorn’s Death—Thorfin Comes to + Grettir’s Aid—Grettir’s Life in Danger—Hiarandi’s Revenge—A + Doomed Man_ + + +Grettir left Thorgils very good friends, and he went with some merchants +to the north, but when the summer was over he came back south, and +arrived at a little island in the entrance of the Drontheim firth. His +intention was to see Earl Sweyn, and perhaps take service under him; but +if so, things fell out other than he had reckoned. For, as he was in +this island, there came in a large merchant vessel from England, and +Grettir and those with him at once went to see the shipmen, and among +them was Biorn. The ship was, in fact, that of Thorgils, and it was +laden with commodities bought in England, or obtained by exchange for +the wool, and furs, and women’s embroidery sent out in the spring by +Thorgils. + +Directly Biorn saw Grettir he turned red, and pretended not to recognize +him; but Grettir went to him at once and said: + +"Now has come the time when we two can settle our differences." + +"Oh," said Biorn, "that is soon done. I don’t object to paying a +trifle." + +"The time for paying is over," said Grettir. "Thorgils offered an +indemnity for your insolence, and you refused to consent to it." + +Then Biorn saw that there was no help for him but that he must fight. +So he girded him for the conflict, and he and Grettir went down on the +sand, and they fought. + +The fight did not last long. Grettir’s sword cut him that he fell and +died. + +When the news reached Thorgils, he got ready, and came by boat as fast +as he could to see the earl at Drontheim. He found the earl very angry, +but he said to him: + +"I am a kinsman of the fallen man, and I know that he treated Grettir +with intolerable insolence, and that he refused every compromise. Then +remember what a benefit has been done to the country by Grettir, who +ridded it of the Red Rovers, Thorir wi’ the Paunch and Ogmund the Bad." + +Thorfin also came to Drontheim when he heard of the straits into which +Grettir had come through killing Biorn. The earl called a council on +the matter, and said he would not come to a decision till he had heard +what Biorn’s brother Hiarandi had to say on the matter. Hiarandi was a +violent man, and he was very wroth. He would hear of no patching up of +the matter, and he vowed he would not, as he expressed it, "bring his +brother into his purse." As already said, it was customary when a man +had been killed to offer a sum of money to the next of kin, and if he +accepted the money the quarrel was at an end. When we now speak of +"pocketing an injury," reference is made to this same ancient usage, by +which every offence was estimated at so much money, and if the wronged +man took money for the offence committed against him, he was said _to +pocket it_. When the earl went into the matter, and heard how Grettir +had been wronged and outraged by Biorn, he gave his decision that +Grettir had not acted contrary to law, and that Biorn had justly +forfeited his life. Thorfin offered the sum of money which the earl +considered was sufficient to atone to the relations for the death of +Biorn, but Hiarandi refused absolutely to touch it. + +Then Thorfin knew that Grettir’s life was in danger, for Hiarandi would +certainly try to take it; so he begged his kinsman Arinbiorn to go about +with Grettir, and keep on the look-out against the mischief that +threatened. + +Now it fell out one day that Grettir and Arinbiorn were walking down a +street in Drontheim when their way led before a narrow lane opening into +it. They did not see any danger in the way, and were unaware of this +lane. But just as they had passed it a man jumped out from behind, in +the shadow, swinging an axe, and he struck at Grettir between the +shoulder-blades. Fortunately, Arinbiorn had looked round at the lane, +and he saw the man leap out, so he suddenly dragged Grettir forward with +such a jerk that Grettir fell on his knee. This saved his life, for the +axe came on his shoulder-blade, made a gash that cut to his armpit, and +then the axe buried itself in the roadway. Instantly Grettir started to +his feet, turned round, and with his short sword smote in the very nick +of time as the man, who was Hiarandi, was pulling up his axe to cut at +Grettir again. Grettir’s sword fell on his upper arm near the shoulder, +and cut it off. Then out rushed some servants of Hiarandi on Arinbiorn +and Grettir, who set their backs against a house-wall and defended +themselves with such valour that they killed or put to flight all who +had assailed them. + +Now, this had been a base and cowardly attempt on the life of Grettir, +and Hiarandi richly deserved his fate. But the earl was exceedingly +angry when he heard the news, and he called a council together. Thorfin +and Grettir attended, and the earl angrily charged Grettir with having +committed great violence, and being the cause of the death of Hiarandi +and some of his servants. + +Grettir acknowledged this; but showed his wound, and stated how he had +been attacked from behind; how his life had been saved by the +promptitude of Arinbiorn, and how he had but defended himself against +enemies who sought his life. + +"I wish you had been killed," said the earl, "and then there would have +been an end to these disorders." + +"You would not have a man not raise his hands to save his head?" said +Grettir. + +"I see one thing," exclaimed the earl. "Ill luck attends you, and you +are doomed to commit violences wherever you are." + +The end of it was that Earl Sweyn said he would not have Grettir to live +in Norway any longer, lest he should be the cause of fresh troubles. +But he remained over the third winter, and next spring sailed for +Iceland, the time of his outlawing being ended. + + + + + *CHAPTER X.* + + *OF GRETTIR’S RETURN.* + + + _Iceland Once More—Life’s Bitter Lessons—Grettir Pays Audun a + Visit—Some Icelandic Terms—Byres and Sels—A Chief’s Hall—The + Return of Audun—Grettir’s Second Wrestle with Audun—Bard + Interposes—The Cousins Reconciled_ + + +When Grettir came back to Biarg, he found his father so old and infirm +as to be no more able to stir abroad, and Atli managed the farm for him +along with Illugi, Grettir’s youngest brother, now grown up to be a big +boy. Grettir was now aged eighteen, but he looked and was a man. +Illugi was about fifteen, a gentle, pleasant boy. He and the kindly, +careful Atli were as unlike Grettir as well could be; they avoided +quarrels, they had a civil word for every one, and took pains to make +themselves agreeable, whether to guests in their house, or when staying +anywhere, to their hosts. Grettir never troubled himself to be courteous +or to be obliging to anyone. Now that he was back from Norway he was +rather disposed to think much of himself as a man more brave and +audacious than his fellows, for, had he not killed twelve rovers, broken +into a barrow, slain a bear, and been the death of one man in a duel, +and another who had attempted to assassinate him? Atli did not much +like his manner, and cautioned him not to be overbearing whilst at home, +lest he should involve himself in fresh troubles. But words were wasted +on Grettir. He was not the fellow to listen to advice, but one of those +men who must learn the bitter lessons of life by personal experience. +It is so with men always. Some, who are thoughtful, see what God’s law +is which is impressed on all society, and listen to what others have +found out as the lessons taught them by their lives, so they are able to +go out equipped against the trials and difficulties of life. But others +will neither look nor listen, and such have to go through every sort of +adversity, till they have learned the great truths of social life, and +perhaps they only acquire them when it is too late to put them in +practice. + +It is with laws and courtesies of life as with the three R’s. A man +will fare badly who cannot read, write, and cipher. If he learns these +accomplishments as a child, he does well; he is furnished for the +struggle of life, and starts on the same footing as other men; but if as +a child he is morose and indifferent, and refuses to learn, then all +through his life he is met with difficulties, owing to his ignorance, +and he finds that he must learn to read, write, and do sums; and he has +to acquire these in after years with much less ease than he might have +learnt as a child, and after he has lost many chances of getting on +which might have been seized, had he known these things before. + +Grettir’s temper on his return may be judged by one incident that +happened almost directly. He had not forgotten his struggle on the ice +with his cousin Audun, and he was resolved to have another trial of +strength with him. So he had not been home many days before he rode +over the hill to Audunstead in his best harness, and with a beautiful +saddle on his horse that had been given him by Thorfin. The time was +that of hay, and he saw the field round Audun’s farm full of rich grass, +ready to be cut. He took the bridle off his horse and turned it into +Audun’s meadow. This was not out of thoughtlessness, but out of +insolence, and was intended to exasperate Audun. In Iceland grass grows +very little, and only fit to be cut for hay round the farms in what is +called the _tun_, where it is richly dressed with stable-dung. +Consequently hay is very scarce and very precious. The grass never +grows much longer than one’s fingers, and so even in the tun it is not +plentiful. He knocked at the door of the farm and asked for his cousin, +and was told that Audun had gone to the highland _sel_ to fetch curds, +and would be back later. The _sel_ was a farm on the highland, only +occupied in summer, when the cattle were driven to the moors and hills +to feed on the grass there, and to save that in the lowlands against +winter. + +Here a word or two must be said about Icelandic names of places and +people. When Iceland was colonized, those who first settled in the land +and built farms, called the places after their own names in a great many +cases; they called them so-and-so’s _stead_, or so-and-so’s _by_ or +farm. A _by_ is the Scotch byre, and in Icelandic is _bœr_, pronounced +exactly like the Scotch word. Wherever, in the north and east of +England, Norse settlers came, there we find names of places ending in +the same way, and we know that these were farms and dwellings of old +Norse settlers. Thus in Northumberland, Yorkshire, and Lincolnshire, +are plenty of Norse place-names. Near Thirsk is Thirkelby or +Thorkel’s-byre, near Ripon is Enderby or Andrew’s-byre. Not only so, +but where there are high hills there we find also _sels_, that is +summer-farms, like the Alps to which the cattle are driven in +Switzerland. Next as to the names of people. What is a little puzzling +to remember is the number of persons whose names begin with Thor. Thor, +the god of thunder, was regarded with the highest reverence by the +Icelanders; they thought of him even more than they did of Odin, the +chief god of all, who had one eye, and his one fiery eye was the sun. +Thor was called the Redbeard, and the aurora borealis was thought to be +his waving red-beard in the sky. The thunderbolt they regarded as his +hammer. To show their respect for him, children were named after him: +Thor-grim means Thor’s wrath; Thor-kel, Thor’s kettle, in which the +sacrificial meat was cooked in offering to Thor; Thor-gil was Thor’s boy +or servant; Thor-hall was Thor’s flint spear-head, and so on. The +Northumbrian king, St. Osmund, takes his name from the Hand of God, and +the name is the same as Asmund, the father of Grettir. Oswald means the +elect of the god; in Icelandic the name would be Aswald. + +When Grettir found that Audun was from home, he went into the hall and +lay down on the bench nearest the door. The hall was dark. + +The halls of the Icelandic chiefs were like bodies of churches, and were +divided into a nave with side aisles; and were lighted by windows in a +clere-story that were covered with the skin of the lining of a sheep’s +stomach, to let in light and keep out cold, because they had no glass. +In the side aisles were the beds of those who lived in the house, some +with doors and shutters, which could be fastened from within; and a man +in danger of his life would so sleep. He would go to bed, and then +close himself in and lock the shutters, that no one could get at him +when he was asleep. The fires and benches and tables were in the nave, +or middle of the great hall. Over the partitions for the beds were hung +shields and swords and spears, and on grand occasions hangings were put +up all along the sides, hiding the beds and berths in the side aisles. +The arrangement in an Icelandic house at the present day is much the +same, only on a very much reduced scale. The people live and eat and +sleep in the same room, like the saloon-cabin of a ship, with the berths +round the walls. + +Audun arrived in the afternoon with a horse that carried curds in skins +on its back; that is to say, skins were made into bottles, as is still +common in Palestine. When he saw that a horse with a saddle on it was +wandering about in his meadow, trampling down the grass and eating it, +he was very vexed; and throwing one bottle of curd over his back, and +hanging another in front on his breast to counterbalance it, he ran into +the house to ask who had done this. + +The hall was dusky, and Audun’s eyes were accustomed to the bright +summer-light. As he entered Grettir put out his foot; Audun did not see +it, and stumbled over it, fell on the skin of curds and burst it. Then +he jumped up, very angry, and asked who had played him this scurvy +trick. Grettir named himself, and said he had come over about that +matter of the wrestle on the ice. Audun, still very irate, all at once +stooped, picked up the burst skin, and dashed it in Grettir’s face, +smothering him with curds. Then he threw down the other curd-bottle, +and began to wrestle with Grettir. They swung up and down the hall, +kicking over the benches, now upon the floor, then on the stone-paved +fire-hearth in the midst; then they crashed against the walls and +pillars of the bed-chambers, and as they did so the shields and weapons +hung over them clashed like bells. Some frightened servant-maids came +in, and ran out again in alarm, calling for aid. + +Audun felt now that Grettir had outgrown him in strength, but he would +not give in; then they slipped on the curd and both fell, parted for a +moment, rose, and flew at each other once more. Again, up and down, +banging, stumbling, writhing in each other’s arms, twisting legs round +each other, to try to trip each other up, and ever Grettir bearing Audun +backwards, but never wholly mastering him. Audun could not trust his +cousin, for though they were akin, and though he had not really done him +an injury, there was no telling to what a pitch Grettir’s blood might +mount and blind him; so as they wrestled, Audun took care to twist the +short sword out of Grettir’s belt and throw it away. As, to do this, he +had to disengage his hand from Grettir’s shoulder, he lost an advantage. +Grettir managed to trip him, and throw him flat on his back. + +At that moment, fortunately, a man, big, wearing a red kirtle, and in +full harness, entered the hall and asked what was the meaning of the +noise and fight? As he did not receive an immediate answer, he came to +the rescue of Audun, and drew Grettir from him. + +"We are only in play with each other," said Grettir. + +"Rather rough play," said the man, "and likely to end in tears rather +than laughter." + +"Who are you that interfere?" asked Grettir. + +"My name is Bard." + +Then Audun scrambled to his feet. + +"What is the reason of this rough play?" asked Bard. + +Then Grettir answered, by singing: + + "Prithee, Audun, will you say + How, upon the ice one day, + You to throttle did essay? + Now, for that I this have done, + On Audun honour I have won; + Curds and wrestle make good fun." + + +"Oh, I see," said Bard; "fighting out an old grudge. I have nothing to +say against that. Now, shake hands, and be loving cousins again." + +Audun held out his hand, and Grettir agreed to let the matter end thus. +But he was dissatisfied, and ever after bore Bard a grudge. However, he +never again wrestled with Audun, and remained on good terms with him. + + + + + *CHAPTER XI.* + + *THE HORSE-FIGHT.* + + + _Atli’s Roan—The Coming Fight—Unfair Play—Grettir + Retaliation—Smouldering Fire_ + + +One of the rude and cruel sports that amused the Icelanders in summer +time was horse-fighting. A smooth piece of turf was chosen, and was +staked round. Into this inclosure two or sometimes more horses were +introduced, and a man attended each, who urged on his own horse, armed +with a goad. By means of these goads the horses were stung to madness, +and attacked each other, biting each other savagely. Now, Atli had a +beautiful roan, with a black mane, which he and his old father were very +proud of. Lower down the valley, near the sea, was a farm called Mais, +in which lived a bonder named Kormak, and his brother; they had in their +house a man called Odd the Foundling, a sly, captious fellow, who, like +Grettir, made verses; but his verses were not generally thought to be so +good as those of Grettir. On the opposite side of the river is a +hot-spring; it is still hot, but not so hot as it was in those days, +when it boiled up and poured forth a cloud of steam, and ran in a +scalding rill down to the river. There was a convenient level place +near the river for a horse-fight, and it stood above the water on one +side rather steeply, so that it needed only fencing on three sides. +Kormak had a brown horse that fought well, and it was resolved that +autumn to have a fight between the horse of Kormak and the roan of Atli. +Odd was to goad on Kormak’s brown, and Grettir offered himself to his +brother to run with the roan. Atli did not much like the proposal, as +he feared Grettir’s temper; but he could not well decline his offer, so +he said, "I will consent, brother; only I pray you, be peaceable, for we +have to do with overbearing men, and it will be very unfortunate if a +broil should come of this." + +"If they begin, I shall not run away," said Grettir. + +"Not if they begin; but be very careful not to provoke a quarrel." + +"Quarrels come and are not made," said Grettir. + +"That I do not hold," answered Atli. + +The day of the horse-fight arrived, and the horses were led to the place +of contest. They had been fed up and groomed for the occasion, and each +had a band round his middle of colour, by which he who went with the +horse could hold, and the goad of each was tied with a tuft of feathers +at the head, stained the same colour as the belt about the horse. + +The two horses were introduced within the inclosure, and were soon +goaded into anger, and began to plunge, and snort, and snap at each +other. The by-standers outside the railing cheered and shouted, and the +horses seemed to understand that they were to do their best; so they +pranced about each other, struck at each other, and tried to get round +each other so as to bite the flank. At one moment the roan bit the side +of the brown, and held. Odd ran his goad into the horse of Grettir to +make it let go;—this was against the rules; he did it to save his own +horse from a terrible wound. Grettir saw what he did, but he said +nothing. Now the horses bore towards the river, and were rearing and +plunging close to the edge, and the two men had much ado to hold on. +Then Odd took the opportunity when Grettir’s back was turned to drive at +him with his goad between the shoulders, where was the great scar still +red, and only just fully healed, that he had received from the axe of +Hiarandi. It was a cruel blow, and this also was against all rule of +fair play. + +At that moment the roan reared, and instantly Grettir ran under him, and +struck Odd with such a blow that he reeled back towards the water edge, +and in so doing dragged the brown horse he was holding over the edge, +and both went down into the water together. The river was very full +with the melted snows, and Odd was brought ashore with difficulty. It +was found that three of his ribs were broken; but whether with the blow +dealt by Grettir, or by his fall on the rock, or by the hoof of the +horse as it fell and struggled in the river, cannot be said; but the +party of Kormak, of course, charged Grettir with having broken Odd’s +ribs with his stick, and they flew to arms, and threatened the party +from Biarg. However, the people of the nearest vales and firths +interfered, and no bloodshed ensued. But the men of Mais and of Biarg +separated bearing each other much ill-will, each charging the other with +having broken the laws of the sport. + +Atli did not say what he felt, he was greatly annoyed; but Grettir was +less careful of his words, he said that the matter was by no means +ended, and that he hoped there would be a meeting between the men of +Mais and the men of Biarg, and then—it would not be a fight of horses, +but of men; not a biting of horses, but of sharp blades. + + + + + *CHAPTER XII.* + + *OF THE FIGHT AT THE NECK.* + + + _The Desolate Moor—Grettir challenges Kormak—Oxmain comes on the + Scene—Slow-coach taunts Grettir—Grettir’s Vexation_ + + +The next fiord on the west of that into which the river that flowed past +Biarg poured was called the Ramsfirth, and at the head of it lived +Grettir’s married sister. + +In the following summer, that is in 1014, Grettir paid his sister a +visit; he had with him two servant-men from Biarg, and he spent three +days and nights at his sister’s. Whilst there, news reached him that +Kormak, who had been away from Mais for a week or two, was on his road +home, and who was now staying at a house called Tongue. Grettir at once +made ready to depart, and his brother-in-law sent two men with him, for +it was not safe that Grettir should have only two churls with him, as +there was ill blood between him and Kormak about that affair of the +horse-fight. + +A high, long shoulder of desolate moor lies between the Ramsfirth and +the Westriver-dale, in which is a confluent of the river that flows past +Biarg. This shoulder rises to the north into a great hump, called +Burfell, and on the saddle is a little lake. A very fine view is +obtained from this shoulder of moor over the northern immense bay of +Hunafloi, towards the glaciers and mountains of that curious excrescence +of land that lies on the north-west of Iceland. I know exactly the road +taken by Grettir on this occasion, for I have ridden over it. Along the +top of this shoulder the rocks are scraped by glaciers, that must at one +time have occupied the whole centre of the island, and have slowly +slidden down into the firths on all sides. Here, what is curious is, +that the rocks are furrowed, just as if carved with a graving tool, in +lines from south to north, showing the direction from which the glaciers +slipped down. Now, on the slope of this bit of upland is a great stone +poised on a point, which I have seen. Grettir came to this stone, and +spent a long time in trying to upset it. It is called Grettir’s-heave +to this day. The men who were with him rather wondered at him why he +wasted time over this, instead of pushing on. But his sharp eye had +noticed the party of Kormak leaving Tongue, and he was bent on an +encounter. He thought that if Odd had seen him going over the hill he +would make a lampoon about him running away from his sister’s house the +moment he heard that danger was threatening. So he determined to tarry +till Kormak came up and fight him. He had not long to wait, for +presently over the top of the hill came Kormak with Odd and some others. +Grettir at once rode to meet them, and said, "Now we have our weapons on +both sides, let us fight like men of good birth, and not with sticks as +churls." + +Then Kormak turned to his men and bade them accept the challenge and +fight. + +Accordingly they ran at one another and fought. Grettir bade his two +serving-men stand behind his back and defend that, and he, sweeping his +longsword from left to right, went forward against Kormak. Thus they +fought for a while, and some were wounded on both sides. + +Now it so happened that at a rich farm in the Ramsfirth-dale lived a +well-to-do, and very strong man, called Thorbiorn—that is, Thor’s +Bear—nicknamed Oxmain. He had ridden that day over Burfell-heath, with +a party, and was now returning. As he came along he heard shouts and the +clashing of arms, so he quickened his pace, and presently came in sight +of the fighters. He at once ordered his men to dash in between the +combatants. But by this time the passions of those engaged were so +furious that they would not be separated. Grettir sweeping his +long-sword about him strode forward, and the men of Kormak fell back +before him. Down went two of those who were with Kormak, and one servant +of Atli, Grettir’s brother, was killed. + +[Illustration: GRETTIR CHALLENGES KORMAK AND HIS PARTY.] + +Then Thorbiorn Oxmain raised his great voice and roared out, that he and +his party would take sides against the first man who dealt another blow. +Grettir saw that it would hardly do if Thorbiorn Oxmain brought all his +force against him, so he gave up the battle; but they did not part till +every one of those engaged was wounded, and two were killed on one side, +and one on the other. Grettir was ill pleased that the affray had ended +in this manner, and he felt resentment against Oxmain for his +interference. Unfortunately, Oxmain’s brother, who went by the name of +the Slow-coach, made fun of the matter, and laughed about Grettir +sneaking away from the fight directly he saw that he was getting the +worst of it. Whatever he said was reported at Biarg, and, as may well +be imagined, did not improve Grettir’s temper, or liking for Oxmain and +Slow-coach. Nothing further occurred between him and Kormak, probably +he and Kormak were content with the trial of strength that had taken +place, and were disinclined to renew a profitless contest. + +Atli took no notice of the loss of his house-churl; he desired peace, +and not a stirring afresh of the fires of discord. To his peaceable +behaviour it was doubtless due that the quarrel with Kormak came to an +end. But the vexation felt by Grettir against Oxmain for his +meddlesomeness, and against Slow-coach for his gibes, rankled in his +breast. + + + + + *CHAPTER XIII.* + + *HOW GRETTIR AND AUDUN MADE FRIENDS.* + + + _Audun’s Pedigree—His relation to Grettir—Grettir’s-heaves—In + Willowdale—The Place called Tongue—A very strange Tale_ + + +Grettir remained through the autumn at Biarg, after the skirmish at the +Neck, till September, and then he thought he would ride away east and +see Audun again, with whom he had had that little ruffle that was almost +a quarrel, and which was fortunately interrupted by the entrance of +Bard. Audun was a cousin, though not a near one, and Grettir had no +desire that any bad blood should exist between kinsfolk. Audun belonged +to what was called the Madpate family; for it had had in it at least two +who had been so odd in their ways that folk said they were not quite +right in their minds. The relationship will easily be understood by a +look at the pedigree. It will be remembered that old Onund Treefoot, +who had settled in Iceland, had to wife secondly Thordis, an Icelandic +woman, and his son by her was Thorgrim Grizzlepate, and this Thorgrim +bought the estate and house of Biarg about the year 935. Onund Treefoot +died in or about 920, and then his widow Thordis married again a man +called Audun Skokull, and they had a son who was called Asgeir, who +settled in Willowdale, and either went off his head or proved so queer +in his ways that folks called him Madpate. This Madpate married and had +a son Audun, and a daughter Thurid who married away west into a very +good family; and she had a son called Thorstein Kuggson, of whom we +shall hear more presently. Audun of Willowdale’s son was Madpate the +Second, and the lad Audun who wrestled with Grettir and burst the bottle +of curds was the son of this Madpate the Second. Consequently the +relationship to Grettir was through Grettir’s great-grandmother, and +Audun belonged to a generation younger than that of Grettir, because +Grettir was the son of Asmund’s old age. Moreover, Asmund’s father +Thorgrim had married somewhat late in life, whereas all the Madpate +family had dashed into marriage at a very early age. Thus it came about +that Grettir’s great-grandmother was Audun’s great-great-grandmother, +and that, nevertheless, Audun was somewhat older than Grettir. + +Grettir rode straight up over the hill behind his house. Now this hill +like the Neck, already described, is rather curious, for on it are a +number of rocks that have been deposited by glaciers, and not only so, +but they have been dragged along by ice, scratching the rocks over which +they were driven forward, and so these beds of rock are rubbed and +scored with lines made by the stones forced over them by ice. Above +Biarg there is one large stone that has scratched a deep furrow in the +bed of rock and then has stopped at the end of the furrow it had itself +scored. This remarkable phenomenon tells us of a time when the whole of +the centre of Iceland was covered with glaciers, like the centre of +Greenland now. These glaciers slided down the slopes of the hills, and +were thrust along to the sea, where they broke off and floated away as +icebergs. + +Nowadays folk in Iceland do not understand these odd stones perched in +queer places, which were deposited by the ancient glaciers, and they +call them Grettir-taks or Grettir’s-heaves. So the farmer at Biarg told +me that the curious stone at the end of the furrow in the bed of rock on +top of the hill was a Grettir-tak; it had been rubbed along the rock and +left where it stands by Grettir. But I knew better. I knew that it was +put there by an ancient glacier ages before Grettir was born, and before +Iceland was discovered by the Norsemen. I have no doubt that in +Grettir’s time this stone was said to have been put there by some troll. +Afterwards, when people ceased to believe in trolls, they said it was +put there by Grettir. + +Grettir’s ride led him by a pretty little blue lake that lies folded in +between high hills and has a stream flowing from it into a very large +lake near Hop. But he did not follow the stream down; he crossed +another hill, not very steep and high, and reached his cousin’s house at +Audun stead in Willowdale. Now this valley took its name from the woods +of willows that grew in it when first settled, but at the present day +none remain; all have in course of time been burnt for fuel, and except +for scanty grass the Willowdale is very dreary-looking. We may be sure +that Iceland presented a much more smiling and green appearance eight +hundred or a thousand years ago than it does at present. + +When Grettir came to Willowdale, Audun received him in a friendly +manner, and Grettir made him a present of a handsome axe he had. He +remained with him some little while, and they talked over old tales of +Onund Treefoot and his doings, and every shadow of rivalry and anger +disappeared, so that they parted at length in the best of tempers and as +true and affectionate cousins. + +Audun would have desired to keep Grettir there longer, but Grettir would +not stay. He desired to get on to the head of Waterdale, where lived an +uncle of his called Jokull, his mother’s brother, at a place called +Tongue. + +So he rode away over the moor, and reached Tongue. Here a stream comes +rushing through a gorge in a series of waterfalls, and meets another +stream that comes down a valley called the Valley of Shadows further +east. + +Tongue is so called because it lies on a grassy slope exactly in the +tongue of land between these two streams. There is now a good farm +there and a church, and there I stayed a few days. At the back of +Tongue the hill rises rapidly to a fell called Tongue-heath. This hill +was covered with snow when Grettir arrived. This uncle Jokull was glad +to see him. + +He was a rough and violent man, very big and strong; and it was clear to +everyone that his nephew took after his mother’s family more than his +father’s, for there was a strong likeness both in build and face and in +character between Jokull and Grettir. + +He received Grettir heartily in his rough, blunt way, and bade him stay +there as long as he liked. Jokull had been a seafaring man, and had made +much by his merchant trips. He would probably have been a richer and +more respected man had he not been so violent and overbearing and ready +to pick quarrels. + +Now Grettir had not been at Tongue three days before he heard a very +strange tale. Jokull’s mouth was full of it, and with good reason, for +the events had taken place not an hour’s ride distant. It was a tale +about the nearest farm in the Valley of Shadows, a farm called +Thorhall’s-stead, which was reported to be haunted; and so serious had +affairs become there that no servants would remain, and the farmer and +his family had been driven from house and home by the hauntings last +winter, and had come and lodged with Jokull at Tongue, and he had +entertained them for some two or three months. Now this was not a case +of mere fancy and fantastic fear. It was something very real and very +marvellous. But it is a long story, and must be consigned to another +chapter. + + + + + *CHAPTER XIV.* + + *THE VALE OF SHADOWS.* + + + _A Turning-point in Grettir’s Life—The Farm in the Valley—The + haunted Sheep-walks—A strange-looking Fellow—"Here is my + Hand"—Glam keeps Faith—Glam is missing—Following the Red + Track—The Ghost of Glam—Glam’s Successor—Thorgaut is + Missing—From Bad to Worse—Fate of the old Serving-man—Thorhall’s + Perplexity—Grettir offers Aid_ + + +We have come now to an incident which formed a turning-point in +Grettir’s life. It is a very mysterious and inexplicable story, not one +that can be put aside as we have that of his fight in the tomb with Karr +the Old. This is a story even more gruesome. It relates to an event +that so shook Grettir’s nerves that he never after could endure to be +alone in the dark, and would risk all kinds of dangers to escape +solitude. How much of truth lies under this strange narrative we cannot +now say, but that something really did take place is certain from the +effect it had on Grettir ever after. + +The richest valley for grass in all this quarter of Iceland, and the +most peopled, is the Waterdale. On the east rises a mountain ridge of +precipitous basaltic cliffs, down which leap waterfalls from the snows +above. The river that flows through this valley is fed by two main +streams that unite at the farm called Tongue. The stream on the east +rises a long way inland in a mass of lava, and flows through a valley so +narrow and so gloomy that it goes by the name of the Valley of Shadows. +The high ranges of moor and waste to the south shut off the southern +sun, and the lofty banks of mountain to east and west so close it in +that it gets no sun morning or evening. + +A little way up this valley—not far, and not where it is most gloomy—are +now the scanty ruins of a farm called Thorhall’s-stead. Above this the +valley so contracts and the hills are so steep that it is only with +great difficulty that a horse can be led along. This I know very well; +for in crossing an avalanche slide my horse and I were almost +precipitated into the torrent below. Further up the valley stands a +tongue of high land with a waterfall on one side and the ravine on the +other, and here at one time some robbers had their fortress who were the +terror of the neighbourhood. No trace of their fortress remains at +present, but it was to find this place that I explored the valley. + +In the farm that is now but a heap of ruins lived a bonder named +Thorhall and his wife. He was not a man of much consideration in the +district, for he was planted on cold, poor land, and his wealth was but +small. Moreover, he had no servants; and the reason was that his +sheep-walks were haunted. + +Not a herdsman would remain with him. He offered high wages, he +threatened, he entreated, all in vain. One shepherd after another left +his service, and things came to such a pass that he determined to have +the advice of the law-man or chief judge at the next annual assize. + +He saddled his horses and rode to Thingvalla. Skapti was the name of the +judge then, a man with a long head, and deemed the best of men for +giving counsel. Thorhall told him his trouble. + +"I can help you," said Skapti. "There is a shepherd who has been with +me, a rude, strange man, but afraid of neither man nor hobgoblin, and +strong as a bull; but he is not very clear in his intellect." + +"That does not matter," said Thorhall, "so long as he can mind sheep." + +"You may trust him for that," said Skapti. "He is a Swede, and his name +is Glam." + +Towards the end of the assize two gray horses belonging to Thorhall +slipped their hobbles and strayed; so, as he had no serving-man, he went +after them himself, and on his way met a strange-looking fellow, driving +before him an ass laden with faggots. The man was tall and stalwart; +his face attracted Torhall’s attention, for the eyes were ashen gray and +staring. The powerful jaw was furnished with white protruding teeth, +and about his low brow hung bunches of coarse wolf-gray hair. + +"Pray, what are you called?" asked Thorhall, for he suspected that this +was the man Skapti had spoken about. + +"Glam, at your service." + +"Do you like your present duties—wood-cutting?" asked the farmer. + +"No, I do not. I am properly a shepherd." + +"Then, will you come with me? Skapti has spoken of you and offered you +to me." + +"What are the drawbacks to your service?" asked Glam cautiously. + +"None, save that my sheep-walks are haunted." + +"Oh! is that all? Ghosts won’t scare me. Here is my hand. I will come +to you before winter." + +They separated, and soon after the farmer found his horses; they had got +into a little wood, and were nibbling the willow tops. He went home, +having thanked Skapti. + +Summer passed, then autumn, and nothing further was heard of Glam. The +winter storms began to bluster up the valley from the cold Polar Sea, +driving the flying snowflakes and heaping them in drifts at every turn +of the vale. Ice formed in the shallows of the river, and the streams +which in summer trickled down the sides were now turned to icicles. I +was there the very end of June, and then the whole of the mountain flank +to the west was covered with frozen streams spread like a net of icicle +over the black and red striped bare rock. + +One gusty night a violent blow at the door startled all in the farm. In +another moment Glam, tall and wild, stood in the hall glowering out of +his gray staring eyes, his hair matted with frost, his teeth rattling +and snapping with cold, his face blood-red in the glare of the fire that +glowed in the centre of the hall. + +He was well received by Thorhall, but the housewife did not like the +man’s looks, and did not welcome him with much heartiness. Time passed, +and the shepherd was on the moors every day with the flock; his loud and +deep-toned voice was often borne down on the wind as he shouted to the +sheep, driving them to fold. His presence always produced a chill in +the house, and when he spoke it sent a thrill through the women, who did +not like him. + +Christmas-eve was raw and windy; masses of gray vapour rolled up from +the Arctic Ocean, and hung in piles about the mountain tops. Now and +then a scud of frozen fog, covering bar and beam with feathery +hoar-frost, swept up the glen. As the day declined snow began to fall +in large flakes. + +When the wind lulled there could be heard the shout of Glam high up on +the hillside. Darkness closed in, and with the darkness the snow fell +thicker. There was a church then at Thorhall’s farm; there is none there +now, since the valley has been abandoned from its cold and ill name. + +The lights were kindled in the church, and every snowflake as it sailed +down past the open door burned like a golden feather in the light. + +When the service was over, and the farmer and his party returned to the +house, Glam had not come home. This was strange; as he could not live +abroad in the cold, and the sheep would also require shelter. Thorhall +was uneasy and proposed a search, but no one would go with him; and no +wonder, it was not a night for a dog to be out in, and the tracks would +all be buried in snow. So the family sat up all night listening, +trembling and anxious. + +Day broke at last faintly in the south over the great white masses of +mountains. Now a party was formed to search for the missing man. A +sharp climb brought them to the top of the moor above Tongue. Here and +there a sheep was found shivering under a rock or half buried in a +snowdrift, but of Glam—not a sign. + +Presently the whole party was called together about a spot on the +hilltop where the snow was trampled and kicked about, and it was clear +that some desperate struggle had taken place there. There the snow was +also dabbled with frozen blood. A red track led further up the mountain +side, and the searchers were following it when a boy uttered a shriek of +fear. In looking behind a rock he had come on the corpse of the +shepherd lying on its back with the arms extended. The body was taken +up and carried to the edge of the gorge, and was there buried under a +pile of stones, heaped over it to the height of about six feet. _How_ +Glam had died, _by whom_ killed, no one knew, nor could they make a +guess. + +Two nights after this one of the thralls who had gone for the cows burst +into the hall with a face blank from terror; he staggered to a seat and +fainted. On recovering his senses, in a broken voice he assured those +who were round him that he had seen Glam walking past him, with huge +strides, as he left the stable door. The shepherd had turned his head +and looked at him fixedly from his great gray staring eyes. On the +following day a stable lad was found in a fit under a wall, and he never +after recovered his senses. It was thought he must have seen something +that had scared him. Next, some of the women, declared that they had +seen Glam looking in on them through a window of the dairy. In the dusk +Thorhall himself met the dead man, who stood and glowered at him, but +made no attempt to injure his master, and uttered not a word. The +haunting did not end thus. Nightly a heavy tread was heard round the +house, and a hand groping along the walls, and sometimes a hand came in +at the windows, a great coarse hand, that in the red light from the fire +seemed as though steeped in blood. + +When the spring came round the disturbances lessened, and as the sun +obtained full power, ceased altogether. + +During the course of the summer a Norwegian vessel came into the fiord; +Thorhall went on board and found there a man named Thorgaut, who had +come out in search of work. Thorhall engaged him as a shepherd, but not +without honestly telling him his trouble, and what there was uncanny +about his sheep-walks, and how Glam had fared. The man did not regard +this, he laughed, and promised to be with Thorhall at the appointed +season. + +Accordingly he arrived in autumn, and he soon established himself as a +favourite in the house; he romped with the children, helped his +fellow-servants, and was as much liked as his predecessor had been +detested. He was such a merry careless fellow that he did not think +anything of the risks that lay before him, and joked about them. + +When winter set in strange sights and sounds began to alarm the folk at +the farm, but Thorgaut was not troubled; he slept too soundly at night +to be disturbed by the heavy tread round the house. + +On the day before Yule, as was his wont, Thorgaut drove out the sheep to +pasture. Thorhall was uneasy. He said to him: "I pray you be careful, +and do not go near the barrow under which Glam was laid." + +"Don’t fear for me," laughed Thorgaut, "I shall be back in time for +supper, and shall attend you to church." + +Night settled in, but no Thorgaut arrived. There was little mirth at +table when the supper was brought in. All were anxious and fearful. + +The wind was cold and wetting. Blocks of ice were driving about in the +bay, grinding against each other, and the sound could be heard far up +the valley. Aloft, the aurora flames were lighting up the heavens with +an arch of fire. Again this Christmas night the dwellers in the farm +sat up and did not go to bed, waiting for the return of Thorgaut, but he +did not arrive. + +Next morning he was sought, and was found lying dead across the barrow +of Glam, with his spine and one leg and one arm broken. He was brought +home and laid in the churchyard. + +Matters now rapidly became worse. Outbuildings were broken into of a +night, and their woodwork was rent and shattered; the house door was +violently shaken, and great pieces of it were torn away; the gables of +the house were also pulled furiously to and fro. + +Now it fell out that one morning the only man who remained in the +service of the family went out early. Not another servant dared to +remain in the place, and this man remained because he had been with +Thorhall and with his father, and he could not make up his mind to +desert his master in his need. About an hour after he had gone out +Thorhall’s wife took her milking cans and went to the cow-house that she +might milk the cows, as she had now not a maid in the house, and had to +do everything herself. On reaching the door of the cow-house she heard +a terrible sound from within, the bellowing of the cattle, and the deep +bell-notes of an unearthly voice. She was so frightened that she +dropped her pails and ran back to the house and called her husband. +Thorhall was in bed, but he rose instantly, caught up a weapon, and +hastened to the cow-house. + +On opening the door he found all the cattle loose and goring each other. +Slung across the stone that separated their stalls was the old +serving-man, perfectly dead, with his back broken. He had, apparently, +been tossed by the cows, and had fallen on this stone backwards. + +Neither Thorhall nor his wife explained his death in this way; they +thought that Glam must have been there, have driven the cattle wild, and +that just as he had broken the back of Thorgaut, so had he now broken +that of the poor old serving-man. + +It was impossible for the bonder to remain longer in that place; he and +his wife therefore removed down to Tongue, which lies at the junction of +the two rivers, and there things were quiet. There he was hospitably +received by Jokull. Thorhall was able to persuade some of his runaway +servants to come back to him, but no man all that winter would go near +the moor where was the barrow of the shepherd Glam. + +Not till the summer returned, and the sun had dispelled the darkness, +did Thorhall venture back to the Vale of Shadows. In the meanwhile his +daughter’s health had given way under the repeated alarms of the winter; +she became paler every day; with the autumn flowers she faded, and was +laid in the churchyard before the first snowflakes fell. What was +Thorhall to do through the winter? He knew that it was not possible for +him to secure servants if he remained on his own farm; besides, he did +not know what loss might come to his stock. Then, he could not spend +the whole winter at Tongue, for that was another bonder’s house, and +though the farmer there had kindly received him and entertained him for +three months the winter before, he could not ask him to give him +houseroom to himself, his cattle, and servants for a whole long winter. + +So he was in the greatest possible perplexity what to do. Help came to +him from an unexpected quarter. + +Grettir had heard the story of the hauntings, and he rode to Thorhall’s +farm and asked if he might be accommodated there for the night. He said +that it was his great desire to encounter Glam. + +Thorhall was surprised, but not exactly pleased, for he thought that the +family at Biarg would attribute the wrong to him were anything to happen +to Grettir. + +Grettir put his horse into the stable, and retired for the night to one +of the beds in the hall and slept soundly. + + + + + *CHAPTER XV.* + + *HOW GRETTIR FOUGHT WITH GLAM.* + + + _Grettir awaits Glam—The Sound of Feet—Glam breaks into the + Hall—A Strange Figure—Grettir seizes Glam—Grettir’s Last + Chance—Glam’s Curse—The End of Glam—Was it True?_ + + +Next morning Grettir went with Thorhall to the stable for his horse. +The strong wooden door was shivered and driven in. They stepped across +it; Grettir called to his horse, but there was no responsive whinny. +Grettir dashed into the stall and found his horse dead; its neck was +broken. + +"Now," said Thorhall, "I will give you a horse in exchange for that you +have lost. You had better ride home to Biarg at once." + +"Not at all. My horse has been killed, and I must avenge it." So +Grettir remained. + +Night set in. Grettir ate a hearty supper, and was right merry. But +not so Thorhall, who had his misgivings. At bed-time the latter crept +into a locked bedstead beside the hall; but Grettir said he would not go +into a bed, he would lie by the fire in the hall. So he wrapped himself +up in a long fur cloak and flung himself on a bench, with his feet +against the posts of the high seat. The fur cloak was over his head, +and he kept an opening through which he could look out. + +There was a fire burning on the hearth, a smouldering heap of glowing +embers, and by the red light Grettir looked up at the rafters of the +blackened roof. The smoke escaped by a _louvre_ in the middle. The wind +whistled mournfully. The windows high up were covered with parchment, +and admitted now and then a sickly yellow glare from the full moon, +which, however, shone in through the smoke hole, silvering the rising +smoke. A dog began to bark, then bay at the moon. Then the cat, which +had been sitting demurely watching the fire, stood up with raised back +and bristling tail, and darted behind some chests. The hall-door was in +a sad plight. It had been so torn by Glam that it had to be patched up +with wattles. Soothingly the river prattled over its shingly bed as it +swept round the knoll on which stood the farm. Grettir heard the +breathing of the sleeping women in the adjoining chamber, and the sigh +of the housewife as she turned in her bed. + +Then suddenly he heard something that shook all the sleep out of him, +had any been stealing over his eyes. He heard a heavy tread, beneath +which the snow crackled. Every footfall went straight to Grettir’s +heart. A crash on the turf overhead. The strange visitant had scrambled +on the roof, and was walking over that. The roofs of the houses in +Iceland are of turf. For a moment the chimney gap was completely +darkened—the monster was looking down it—the flash of the red fire +illumined the horrible face with its lack-lustre eyes. Then the moon +shone in again, and the heavy tramp of Glam was heard as he walked to +the other end of the hall. A thud—he had leaped down. + +Then Grettir heard his steps passing to the back of the house, then the +snapping of wood showed that Glam was destroying some of the outhouse +doors. Presently the tread was heard again approaching the house, and +this time the main entrance. Grettir thought he could distinguish a +pair of great hands thrust in over the broken door. In another moment +he heard a loud snap—a long plank had been torn out of place, and the +light of the moon shone in where the gap had been made. Then Glam began +to unrip the wattles. + +There was a cross-beam to the door, acting as bolt. Against the gray +light Grettir saw a huge black arm thrust in trying to remove the bar. +It was done, and then all the broken door was driven in and went down on +the floor in shivers. Now Grettir could see a tall dark figure, almost +naked, with wild locks of hair about the head standing in the doorway. +That was but for a minute, and then Glam came in stealthily; he entered +the hall and was illumined by the firelight. The figure Grettir now saw +was unlike anything he had seen before. A few rags hung from the +shoulders and waist, the long wolf-gray hair was matted. The eyes were +staring and strange. Grettir could hear Thorhall within his locked bed +trembling and breathing fast. + +Presently Glam’s eyes rested on the shaggy bundle by the high seat. He +stepped towards it, and Grettir felt him groping about him. Then Glam +laid hold of one end of the fur cloak and began to pull at it. The cloak +did not come away. Another jerk. Grettir kept his feet firmly pressed +against the posts, so that the fur was not pulled away. Glam seemed +puzzled; he went to the other end of the bundle and began to pull at +that. Grettir held to the bench, so that he was not moved himself, but +the fur cloak was torn in half, and the strange visitant staggered back +holding the portion in his hand wonderingly before his eyes. Before he +could recover from his surprise, Grettir started to his feet, bent his +body, flung his arms round Glam, and driving his head into the breast of +the visitor, tried to bend him backward and so snap his spine. This was +in vain, the cold hands grasped Grettir’s arms and tore them from their +hold. Grettir clasped them again about his body, and then Glam threw his +also round Grettir, and they began to wrestle. Grettir saw that Glam +was trying to drag him to the door, and he was sure that if he were got +outside he would be at a disadvantage, and Glam would break his back. +He therefore made a desperate effort not to be drawn forth. He clung to +benches and posts, but the posts gave way, and the benches were torn +from their places. + +At each moment he was being dragged nearer to the door. Sharply +twisting himself loose, Grettir flung his arms round a beam of the roof, +for the hall was low. He was dragged off his feet at once. Glam +clenched him about the waist, and tore at him to get him loose. Every +tendon in Grettir’s breast was strained; still he held on. The nails of +Glam cut into his side like knives, then his hands gave way. He could +endure the strain no longer, and Glam drew him towards the doorway, in +so doing trampling over the broken fragments of the door, and the +wattles that lay about. Grettir knew that the last chance was come for +saving himself. Here, in the hall, he could hold to posts and beams, +and so make some resistance; but outside he would have nothing to cling +to, and strong though he was, his strength did not equal that of his +opponent. + +Now the door-posts were of stone, and the beam that had served as bolt +went across the door, slid into a hollow on one side cut in the +door-post, and was pulled across and fitted into another hollow in the +other post. As the wrestlers neared the opening, Grettir planted both +his feet against the stone posts, one against each, and put his arms +round Glam. He had the enemy now at an advantage; but then, he merely +held him, and could not hold him so for ever. He called to Thorhall, +but Thorhall was too greatly frightened to leave his place of refuge. + +"Now," thought Grettir, "if I can but break his back!" Then drawing Glam +to him by the middle, he put his head beneath the chin of his opponent +and forced back the head. If he could only drive the head far enough +back he would break his neck. + +At that moment one or both of the door-posts gave way; down crashed the +gable-trees, ripping beams and rafters from their places, frozen clods +of turf rattled from the roof and thumped into the snow. + +Glam fell on his back outside the door, and Grettir on top of him. The +moon was, as I said before, at her full; large white clouds chased each +other across the sky. Grettir’s strength was failing him, his hands +quivered in the snow, and he knew that he could not support himself from +dropping flat on the mysterious and dreadful visitant, eye to eye, lip +to lip. + +Then Glam said: "You have done ill matching yourself with me; now know +that never shall you be stronger than you are to-day, and that, to your +dying day, whenever you are in the dark you will see my eyes staring at +you, so that for very horror you will not dare to be alone." + +At this moment Grettir saw his short sword in the snow, it had slipped +from his belt as he fell. He put out his hand at once, clutched the +handle, and with a blow cut off Glam’s head, and at once laid it beside +his thigh. + +Thorhall came out at this juncture, his face blanched; but when he saw +how the fray had ended, he joyfully assisted Grettir to roll the dead +man to the top of a pile of faggots that had been collected for winter +fuel. Fire was applied, and soon far down the Waterdale the flames of +the pyre startled folks, and made them wonder what new horror was being +enacted in the Vale of Shadows. + +Next day the charred bones were conveyed a long way—some hours’ +ride—into the great desert in the interior, and in one of the most +lonely spots there a cairn or pile of stones was heaped over them. I +have seen this mound, which is still pointed out as that under which the +redoubted Glam lies. + +And now we may well ask, what truth is there in the story? That there +is a basis of truth can hardly be denied. The facts have been +embellished, worked up, but not invented. The only probable explanation +of the story is this. + +As already said, further up the valley, in a spot difficult to be +reached, stood the old fortress of some robbers, with many caves in the +sandstone about it very convenient for shelter. Now, it is not +improbable that some madman may have taken refuge in this safe retreat, +and may have come out at night in search of food, and carried off the +sheep of Thorhall. It may be that Glam caught him attempting to steal a +sheep, and fought with him, and was killed, and that in like manner +Thorgaut was killed. Then when people saw a great wild man wandering +about they thought it was Glam, whereas it was the man who had haunted +the region before Glam came there, and had killed Glam. This is the +simplest and easiest explanation of this wild and fearful tale. + + + + + *CHAPTER XVI.* + + *HOW GRETTIR SAILED TO NORWAY.* + + + _Olaf the Saint—Slowcoach with the Nimble Tongue—Slowcoach + insults Grettir—Ill Words—Death of Slowcoach—In Search of Luck_ + + +Early in the spring of the year 1015, news reached Iceland of a change +of rulers in Norway. Olaf Harald’s son, commonly known as Olaf the +Saint, had come to be King of Norway; Earl Sweyn had been defeated in +battle and driven out of the country. Now Grettir was remotely +connected with the king, that is to say, his father’s grandfather was +brother to the grandfather of Asta, Olaf’s mother. The cousinship was +somewhat distant; but in those days folk held to their kin more than +they do now. Grettir thought that a good chance had opened to him for +doing well in Norway, so he resolved to leave Iceland, and enter the +service of his relative, the king. There was a ship bound for Norway +lying in Eyjafiord, and Grettir engaged a berth in her, and made ready +for the voyage. + +Now his father Asmund was very old and feeble, and was well nigh +bedridden. He had given over the entire management of the farm to his +eldest son Atli, and to young Illugi, who was a few years younger than +Grettir. Atli was everywhere liked, he was such a prudent, peaceable, +and kindly man. + +Grettir’s ill-luck still followed him; for, as it chanced, Thorbiorn, +the Slowcoach, the relation of Thorbiorn Oxmain, had resolved to go to +Norway also, and in the same ship. Now the Slowcoach may have been +overslow in his movements, but he was overnimble with his tongue, and he +was strongly advised either not to go in the same boat with Grettir, or, +if he did, to mind his words. + +Such advice was thrown away on the Slowcoach, who, instead of practising +caution, in order to show himself off, began to brag of his strength, +and to say scurvy things of Grettir, which were duly reported by +tale-bearers to Grettir. Consequently, when Grettir arrived in the +Eyjafiord with his goods, he was not very amiably disposed towards the +Slowcoach. However Atli had impressed on him the necessity of +controlling himself, and Grettir was resolved not to quarrel with the +man unless he could not help it. + +At the side of the shore, those who were about to sail had run up booths +and cabins for themselves and their stores. Many of those going in the +boat were chapmen, and they took with them goods with which to traffic +in Norway. + +Just as the vessel was ready, and about to sail next day, Slowcoach +arrived, slow as usual, and after every one else was ready, and their +goods on board. As it was the last evening on shore, all the merchants +and seamen were sitting about their booths, when Thorbiorn Slowcoach +arrived, and rode along the lane between the wooden cabins. The men +shouted to him to know if he had any news to tell them. + +Thorbiorn’s eye caught that of Grettir, who was sitting on a bench, and +he answered, "I don’t hear any news, except that the old idiot Asmund of +Biarg is dead." + +This was not true; the old man was not dead, but very ill. Some of +those who heard him said, "That is sad news indeed, for he was a worthy +and honourable old man, and he could ill be spared." + +"I don’t know that," said Thorbiorn with a scornful laugh. + +"But how did he die? What did he die of?" + +"Die of?" repeated the Slowcoach loud enough to be heard by Grettir. +"Smothered like a dog in the poky little kennel they call their hall at +Biarg. As for any loss in him, it is news to me that the world is not +well rid of dotards." + +"These are ill words," said those who heard him. "No good man will speak +slightingly of old and blameless chiefs. Besides, such words as these +Grettir will not endure." + +"Grettir!" scoffed Thorbiorn. "Before I face him I must see him use his +weapons better than he did last summer, when engaged with Kormak. Then +I put my elbow between them, and Grettir was but too ready to accept the +interference. I never saw a man before so shake in his shoes." + +Thereat Grettir stood up, and controlling himself, said, "If I have any +faculty of foresight, Slowcoach, I see that you will not be smothered +with smoke like a dog. You should have done other than speak foul words +of very aged men. Gray hairs deserve respect." + +"I don’t think more of your foresight than I do of the wisdom of your +old fool of a father," said Thorbiorn. + +The end was that they fought. The insult was too gross to be endured, +and Grettir felt it incumbent on him to strike for his father’s honour. +The fight did not last long; the Slowcoach was slow in his fighting, +slow of hand, only not slow of tongue, and Grettir’s sharp sword wounded +him to death. + +Slowcoach was buried in the nearest churchyard; and the chapmen gave +Grettir credit for having restrained himself as long as possible, and +allowed that, according to the ideas of the time, he was justified in +fighting and killing the Slowcoach for his spiteful and strife-provoking +words. But Grettir was not pleased, he regretted the contest, because +he knew that it left occasion of strife behind, which might occasion +Atli trouble. Thorbiorn Oxmain would, lie feared, be sure to take up +the quarrel, and then Atli would have to pay a heavy fine in silver to +atone for the death. + +The vessel set sail, and reached the south of Norway. There Grettir +took ship in a trading keel, to go north to Drontheim, because he heard +that the king was there, and his heart beat high with hopes that Olaf +would acknowledge him as a cousin, and would take him into his +body-guard, and treat him with honour; and that so, though he had had +ill-luck in Iceland, good luck might attend him in Norway. + + + + + *CHAPTER XVII.* + + *THE HOSTEL BURNING.* + + + _Aground in the Fiord—The Light over the Water—Grettir Swims + Across—The Fight for Fire—The Burned Hostel—At Drontheim_ + + +There lived a man named Thorir at Garth in Iceland who had spent the +summer in Norway when Olaf returned from England, and he had stood in +great favour with the king. He had two sons, and at this time both were +well-grown men. + +Thorir left Norway for Iceland, where he broke up his ship, not +intending again to go a seafaring. But when he heard the tidings that +Olaf was king over the whole of Norway, then he deemed it would be well +for his sons to go there and pay their respects to the king, and remind +him of his old friendship for their father. + +On reaching Norway much about the same time as had Grettir, they took a +long rowing-boat, and skirted the coast on their way north to Drontheim. +They preceded Grettir by a few days. On reaching a fine fiord, in which +there was shelter from the gales that began to bluster violently with +the approach of winter, the sons of Thorir ran in their boat, and as +there was a large wooden hostelry there built for the shelter of +weather-bound travellers, they took refuge in it, and spent their days +in hunting and their nights in revelry. + +Now it so fell out that Grettir’s merchant ship came into this same +fiord one evening and ran aground on the opposite shore to that on which +was the hostel. The night was bitterly cold; storms of snow drove over +the country, whitening the mountains. The men from the ship were worn +out and numbed with cold, and they had no means of kindling a fire. +Then, all at once, they saw a light spring up on the opposite side of +the firth, twinkling cheerfully between the trees. This was a sight to +make them more eager for a fire, and they began to wish that some one of +their number would swim across and bring over a light. + +"In the good old times there must have been men who would have thought +nothing of swimming across the streak of water at night," said Grettir. + +"No comfort to us to know that," said one of the crew. "It does not +concern us what may have been in the past, we are shivering in the +present. Why do you not get us fire?" + +Grettir hesitated. The night was very like that on which he had fought +with Glam: the same full moon, with snow-laden clouds rolling over its +face for a while obscuring it, and then the full glare falling over the +face of earth again; and, unaccountably, a sense of doubt and depression +had come over him, as though that evil adversary were now about to +revenge his downfall upon him. He looked round suddenly, for he thought +that the fearful eyes were staring at him from out of the black shadows +of the fir-wood. + +The rest of the crew united in urging him, and at length, reluctantly, +Grettir yielded. He flung his clothes off, and prepared himself to +swim. He had on him a fur cape, and a pair of wadmal breeches. He took +up an iron pot, and jumped into the sea and swam safely across. + +On reaching the further shore, he shook the water off him, but before +long his trousers froze like boards, and the water formed in icicles +about the cape. Grettir ascended through the pine-wood towards the +light, and on reaching the hostel from which it proceeded, walked in +without speaking to anyone, and striding up to the fire, stooped and +began to scrape the red-hot embers into his iron pot. The hall was full +of revellers, and these revellers were the sons of Thorir and their +boat’s crew. They were already more than half intoxicated, and when +they saw a wild-looking man enter the hall, half naked and hung with +icicles, they thought he must be a troll or mountain-spirit. + +At once every one caught up the first weapon to hand, and rushed to the +attack. Grettir defended himself with a fire-brand plucked from the +hearth; the sons of Thorir stumbled over the fire, and the embers were +strewn about over the floor that was covered with fresh straw. + +In a few moments the hall was filled with flame and smoke, and Grettir +took advantage of the confusion to effect his escape. He ran down to +the shore, plunged into the sea and swam across. + +He found his companions waiting for him behind a rock, with a pile of +dry wood which they had collected during his absence. The cinders were +blown upon, and twigs applied, till a blaze was produced, and before +long the whole party sat rubbing their almost frozen hands over a +cheerful fire. + +Next morning the merchants recognized the fiord, and, remembering that a +hostel stood on the further side, they crossed the water to see it, +when—what was their dismay to find of it only a heap of smoking embers! +From under some of the charred timber were thrust scorched human limbs. +The chapmen, in alarm and horror, turned upon Grettir and charged him +with having maliciously burned the house with all its inmates. + +"See, now," said Grettir, "I had a thought that this expedition would +not bring luck. I would I had not taken the trouble to get fire for +such a set of thankless churls." + +The ship’s crew raked out the embers, pulled aside the smoking rafters, +in their search for the bodies. Some of these were not so disfigured but +that they could recognize them. Moreover, they knew the ship that lay +at anchor under the lee, hard by, and they saw that Grettir had brought +the sons of Thorir to an untimely end. The indignation of the merchants +became so vehement, and their fear so great that they might be +implicated in the matter, that they drove Grettir from their company, +and refused to receive him into their vessel for the remainder of their +voyage. Grettir, in sullen wrath, would say no word of self-defence; he +had to make his way on foot to Drontheim, where he resolved to lay the +whole matter before the king. + +The vessel reached Drontheim before him, and the news of the hostel +burning roused universal indignation against Grettir. + + + + + *CHAPTER XVIII.* + + *THE ORDEAL BY FIRE.* + + + _Grettir tells his Story—Preparing for the Ordeal—The + Procession—Attacked by the Mob—The King Intervenes—Wicked or + Unlucky_ + + +One day, as King Olaf sat in audience in his great hall, Grettir strode +in, and going before his seat, greeted the king. Olaf looked at him and +said: + +"Are you Grettir the Strong?" + +He answered: "That is my name, and I have come hither, kinsman, to get a +fair hearing, and to clear myself of the charge of having burned men +maliciously. Of that I am guiltless." + +King Olaf replied: "I heartily trust that what you say is true, and that +you will be able to rid yourself of a charge so bad." + +Grettir replied that he was ready to do whatsoever the king desired, in +order to prove his innocence. + +Then said the king to him, "Tell me the whole story, that I may be able +to judge." + +Grettir answered by relating the circumstances. He had simply taken fire +from the hearth, when he was fallen upon by those who were drinking, and +who were too tipsy to understand his explanation. He went away with the +red-hot embers, and did not set fire to anything, but the drunken men +kicked the glowing coals about amidst the straw. + +The king remained silent some moments, and then he said: "There are no +witnesses either on your behalf or against you. No man was by who is +not dead. God and his angels alone know whether you speak the truth or +not, therefore I must refer you to the judgment of God." + +"What must I do?" asked Grettir. + +"You will have to go through the ordeal of fire," said the king. + +"What is that?" asked the young man. + +"You must lift bars of red-hot iron, and walk with bare feet on +ploughshares heated red in a furnace." + +"And what if I am burnt?" + +"Then will you be adjudged guilty." + +Grettir shrugged his shoulders: "If it must be so, let it be at once; +but whether I be burnt or not, I declare that I am clear of all intent +to hurt those men." + +"You cannot undergo the ordeal now," said the king. "You would be +burned to a certainty. You must go through preparation first." + +"What preparation?" + +"A week of fasting and prayer," was the reply. + +Then Grettir was taken away and put in ward, and fed with bread and +water for a week, and the bishop visited him and taught him to pray that +if he were innocent, God would reveal his innocence by enabling him to +pass unscathed through the ordeal. + +The day came, and Drontheim was thronged with people from all the +country round, to see the Icelander of whom such tales were told. A +procession was formed; first went the king’s body-guard followed by the +king himself, wearing his crown, then came the bishop, the choir, and +the clergy, and last of all Grettir, his wild red hair flying loose in +the breeze, his arms folded, and his eyes wandering over the sea of +heads that filled the square before the cathedral doors. The crowd +pressed in closer and closer. Opinions differed as to whether he were +guilty or not. Among the mob was a young man of dark complexion, who +made a great noise, shouldering his way to the front, and shouting. + +"Look at the fellow!" he exclaimed. "This is the man who, in cold +blood, burnt down a house over helpless men, and now he is to be given u +chance of escape." + +"But he says he is guiltless," argued one in the crowd. + +"Guiltless!" exclaimed the youth. "If one of us had done the deed, +should we have been trifled with? The king wants him for his +body-guard, because he is so strong." + +"He should be given a chance of clearing himself," said one who stood +near. + +"Yes—of course—because he is a kinsman of the king. So the irons have +been painted red, to look as if hot. I know how the trick is done. But +he shall not escape me." + +Thereupon the young man sprang at Grettir and drove his nails into his +face so that they drew blood; at the same time he poured forth against +him a stream of insulting names. + +This was more than the Icelander could bear; he caught the young man, as +a cat catches a mouse, held him aloft, shook him, and then threw him +away, when he fell on the ground and was stunned. It was feared he might +be killed. This act gave occasion to a general uproar; the mob wanted +to lay hands on Grettir; some threw stones, others assaulted him with +sticks; but he, planting his back against the church wall, turned up his +sleeves, guarded off the blows, shouting to his assailants to come on. +Not a man came within his reach but was sent reeling back or was felled +to the ground. In the meantime the king and the bishop were in the choir +waiting. The red-hot ploughshares which had been laid on the pavement +were gradually cooling, but no Grettir appeared. + +[Illustration: GRETTIR DEFENDS HIMSELF FROM THE MOB.] + +At last the sounds of the uproar reached the king’s ear, and he sent out +to know the occasion. His messenger returned a moment after to report +that the Icelander was fighting the whole town and had knocked down and +well nigh killed several persons. The king thereupon sprang from his +throne, hastened down the nave, and came out of the great western door +when the conflict was at its height. + +"Oh, sire," exclaimed Grettir, "see how I can fight the rascals!" and at +the word he knocked a man over at the king’s feet. + +With difficulty the tumult was arrested, and Grettir separated from the +combatants; and then he wanted to go with the king and try the ordeal of +fire. + +"Not so," answered Olaf, "you have already incurred sin. It is possible +that some of those you have knocked down may never recover, so that +their blood will lie at your door." + +"What is to be done?" asked Grettir. + +The king considered. + +"I see you are a very wicked or at all events a very unlucky man. When +you were here before you were the occasion of several deaths. I do not +desire to keep you in Norway, but as winter has set in you may tarry +here till next spring, and then you shall be outlawed and return to +Iceland." + + + + + *CHAPTER XIX.* + + *THE WINTER IN NORWAY.* + + + _At Einar’s Farm—The Bearsarks—A Visit from Snœkoll—The + Bearsark’s Demand—Grettir Temporizes—The Bearsark has a + Fit—Death of Snœkoll—Dromund’s History—Grettir’s Arms—A Pair of + Tongs_ + + +King Olaf had decided that Grettir must leave Norway and return to +Iceland. If he was not a guilty man he was a most unfortunate one. +Now, the Norse race, whether in Denmark, Norway, Sweden, or Iceland, +believed in luck. They said that certain men were born to ill-luck, and +such men they avoided, because they feared lest the ill-luck that clung +to them might attach itself to, and involve those who came in contact +with them. + +It was not possible for Grettir to return that year to Iceland, for all +the ships bound for his native land had sailed before winter set in, so +King Olaf agreed to allow him to remain in the kingdom through the +winter, but bound him to depart on the first opportunity next year. + +Somewhat sad at heart with disappointment, and with the impression that +perhaps Olaf the king was right, and that ill-luck really did weigh on +him, Grettir left the court, and went at Yule to the house of a bonder +or yeoman called Einar, and remained with him awhile. The farm was in a +lonely place in a fiord opening back to the snowy mountains. Einar was +a kindly man, hospitable, and he did his best to make Grettir’s stay +with him pleasant. He had a daughter, a fair, beautiful girl, with blue +eyes, and hair like amber silk, and her name was Gyrid. Perhaps the +beautiful Gyrid was one attraction to Grettir, but if so he never spoke +what was on his heart, because he knew it would be useless. He was an +unlucky man; he had made himself a name, indeed, as one of great daring, +but he had won for himself neither home, nor riches, nor favour. + +Now it fell out that at this time there were some savage ruffians in the +country who were called Bearsarks. They were outlaws in most cases, and +they lived in secret dens in the dense forests, whence they issued and +swooped down on the farms, and there challenged the bonders to fight +with them, or to give up to them whatever they needed. These ruffians +wore bear-skins drawn over their bodies, and they thrust their heads +through the jaws of the beasts, so that they presented a hideous and +frightening appearance. Then they worked themselves into paroxysms of +rage, when they were like madmen; they rolled their eyes, they roared +and howled like wild beasts, and foam formed on their mouths and dropped +on the ground. They were wont also, when these fits came on them, to +bite the edges of their shields, and with their fangs they were known to +have dinted the metal quite deep. Some folks even said they had bitten +pieces out of solid shields. It was usually supposed that these +Bearsarks were possessed by evil spirits, and it is probable that in +many cases they were really mad—mad through having given way to their +violent passions, till they knew no law, and thought to carry everything +before them by their violence. It was even at one time thought by the +superstitious that they could change their shapes, and run about at will +in the forms of bears or wolves; but this idea grew out of the fact of +their clothing themselves in bear or wolf skins, and drawing the skull +of the beast over their heads as a rude helmet, and looking out through +the open jaws that thus formed a visor. + +One day, just after Yule, to the terror and dismay of Einar, one of the +most redoubtable of these Bearsarks, a fellow called Snœkoll, came +thundering up to his door on a huge black horse, followed by three or +four others on foot, all clothed in skins; but Snœkoll, instead of +wearing the bear’s skin over his head, had on a helmet with great tusks +of a boar protruding from it, and a boar’s head drawn over the metal. + +It is worth remark that the crests worn later by knights, and which we +have still on our plate and on harness, are derived from similar +adornments to helmets. Some warriors put wings of eagles on their +head-pieces, others put the paws of bears or representations of lions. +These were badges of their prowess, or marks whereby they might be +known. + +Snœkoll struck the door of the farmhouse with his spear, and roared to +the owner to come forth. At once Einar and Grettir issued from the hall, +and Einar in great trepidation asked the Bearsark what he wanted. + +"What do I want?" shouted Snœkoll. "I want one of two things. Either +that you give me up your beautiful daughter to be my wife, and with her +five-score bags of silver, or else that you fight me here. If you kill +me, then luck is yours. If I kill you, then I shall carry off your +daughter and all that you possess." + +Einar turned to Grettir and asked him in a whisper what he was to do. +He himself was an old man whose fighting days were over, and he had no +chance against this savage. + +Grettir answered that he had better consult his honour and the happiness +of Gyrid, and not give way to a bully. The Bearsark sat on his horse +rolling his eyes from one to another. He had a great iron-rimmed shield +before him. + +Then he bellowed forth: "Come! I am not going to wait here whilst you +consider matters. Make your selection of the two alternatives at once. +What is that great lout at your side whispering? Does he want to play a +little game of who is master along with me?" + +"For my part," said Grettir, "the farmer and I are about in equal +predicament; he is too old to fight, and I am unskilled in arms." + +"I see! I see!" roared Snœkoll. "You are both trembling in your shoes. +Wait till my fit is on me, and then you will shake indeed." + +"Let us see how you look in your Bearsark fit," said Grettir. + +Then Snœkoll waxed wroth, and worked himself up into one of the fits of +madness. There can be no doubt that in some cases this was all bluster +and sham. But in many cases these fellows really roused themselves into +perfect frenzies of madness in which they did not know what they did. + +Now Snœkoll began to bellow like a bull, and to roll his eyes, and he +put the edge of the great shield in his mouth and bit at it, and blew +foam from his lips that rolled down the face of the shield. Grettir +fixed his eyes steadily on him, and put his hands into his pockets. +Snœkoll rocked himself on his horse, and his companions began also to +bellow, and stir themselves up into madness. Grettir, with his eye +fixed steadily on the ruffian, drew little by little nearer to him; but +as he had no weapon, and held his hands confined, Snœkoll, if he did +observe him, disregarded him. When Grettir stood close beside him and +looked up at the red glaring eyes, the foaming lips of Snœkoll, and +heard his howls and the crunching of his great teeth against the strong +oak and iron of the shield, he suddenly laughed, lifted his foot, caught +the bottom of the shield a sudden kick upwards, and the shield with the +violence of the upward shock broke Snœkoll’s jaw. Instantly the +Bearsark stopped his bellows, let fall the shield, and before he could +draw his sword Grettir caught his helmet by the great boar tusks, gave +them a twist, and rolled Snœkoll down off his horse on the ground, knelt +on him, and with the ruffian’s own sword dealt him his death-blow. + +When the others saw the fall of their chief they ceased their antics, +turned and ran away to hide in the woods. + +The bonder, Einar, thanked Grettir for his assistance, and the lovely +Gyrid gave him also her grateful acknowledgments and a sweet smile; but +Grettir knew that a portionless unlucky man like himself could not +aspire to her hand, and feeling that he was daily becoming more attached +to her, he deemed it right at once to leave, and he went away to a place +called Tunsberg, where lived his half-brother, Thorstein Dromund. + +Now, to understand the relationship of Dromund to Grettir, you must know +that his father, Asmund, had been twice married. He had been in Norway +when a young man with a merchant ship, and he had also gone with his +wares to England and France, and had gained great wealth; and as he had +many relations in Norway he was well received there in winter, when he +came back from his merchant trips. On one of these occasions he had met +a damsel called Ranveig, whose father and mother were dead. She was of +good birth, and was wealthy. Asmund asked for her hand and married her, +and settled on the lands that belonged to her in Norway. They had a son +called Thorstein, who, because he was rather slow of speech and manner, +was nicknamed Dromund; but as we meet with other Thorsteins in this +story, to prevent confusion we will speak of him as Dromund. + +After a while Asmund’s wife Ranveig died, and then her relatives +insisted on taking away all her lands and possessions and keeping them +in trust for little Dromund. Asmund did not care to quarrel with them, +so he left Dromund with his late wife’s relatives and went home to +Iceland, where, after a few years, he married Asdis, and by her became +the father of Atli, Grettir, and Illugi, and of two daughters, one of +whom he named after his first wife. + +Dromund grew up in Norway on his estates at Tunsberg, and became a man +of wealth and renown, a quiet man, but one who held his own, and was +generally respected. + +Now Grettir went to him, and his half-brother received him very +affectionately, and insisted on his remaining with him all the rest of +the winter till it was time for him to sail to Iceland. + +One little incident is mentioned concerning that time that deserves to +be recorded. + +Grettir slept in the same apartment as did his brother. + +One morning Dromund awoke early, and he saw how that Grettir’s arms were +out of bed, and he wondered at their size. + +Presently Grettir awoke, and then Dromund said to him: "Grettir, I have +been amused with looking at your bare arms. What muscles you have got! +I never saw the like." + +"I need strong muscles to do what I have to do." + +"True enough, brother," said Dromund. "But I could wish there were a +little more luck as well as muscle attached to those bones." + +"Let me look at your arms," said Grettir. + +Then Dromund put his arms out of bed, and when he saw them Grettir burst +out laughing, for they were so thin and scraggy. + +"Upon my word, brother, I never saw such a wretched pair of tongs in my +life," he said. + +"They may be a pair of tongs, old boy," answered Dromund, "but they are +tongs that shall ever be extended to help you when in need. And," added +Dromund in a lower tone, "if it should ever befall you that your +ill-luck should overmaster you, and you not die in your bed; then, +Grettir, I promise you, if I am alive, that I shall not let this pair of +tongs rest till, with them, I have avenged you." + +No more is related of their talk together. The spring wore on, and in +summer Grettir took ship. + +The brothers parted with much affection, and they never again saw each +other’s face. + + + + + *CHAPTER XX.* + + *OF WHAT BEFELL AT BIARG.* + + + _Thorbiorn’s Servant—Ali at Biarg—Seeking a Quarrel—A Fair + Answer—Atli’s Dilemma—Thorbiorn’s Revenge—The Slaying of + Atli—Atli’s Grave_ + + +Whilst Grettir was in Norway, that ill-luck which pursued him did not +fail to touch and trouble his Icelandic home as well. + +It will be remembered that Grettir had been forced to fight the +Slowcoach, and had killed him. Now the cousin of this man was Thorbiorn +Oxmain, who lived in the Ramsfirth. This Thorbiorn had got a +serving-man named Ali, a somewhat lazy man, strong, but unruly. As he +did his work badly, and was slow about it, his master rebuked him, and +when rebukes failed, he threatened him. Threats also proved unavailing, +so Thorbiorn one day took the stick to his back, and beat him till he +danced. After this Ali would remain no longer in his service; he ran +away, crossed the ridge to the Midfiord, and came to Biarg, where he +presented himself before Atli, who asked him what he wanted. + +The fellow said that he was in quest of service. + +"But," said Atli, "you are, I understand, one of Thorbiorn’s workmen." + +"I was so, but I have left his service because I was badly treated. He +beat me till I was black and blue; no one can remain with him, he is so +rough with his men, and he exacts of them too much work. I have come +here because I hear that you treat your servants well." + +Atli replied: "I have hands enough, you had better go back to Thorbiorn, +for I do not want you." + +"I will never go back to him, that I declare," said the churl. "If you +turn me away, I have nowhere to which I can go." + +So he remained for a few nights at Biarg; and Atli did not like to turn +him out of the house. Then one day he went to work with Atli’s men, and +worked hard and well, for he was a powerful man. So time passed. Atli +did not agree to pay him any wage, and he did not send him away. He did +not feel best pleased at having the man there, but he was too +kind-hearted to drive him away. + +Not only did he remain there and work well, but he showed himself ready +to turn his hand to anything, and was the most useful man about the +place. + +Now Thorbiorn heard that his churl was at Biarg. The death of Slowcoach +had rankled in his breast. He had felt that it was his duty to take up +the case and demand recompense, yet he had not done so; now he was +angered that Atli had opened his doors to his runaway servant. He had +covenanted with the man for a year, but the fellow was so disagreeable +that he would have gladly dispensed with his service; but that Atli +should have received him, and that the man should be making himself +useful at Biarg,—that made him very angry indeed. + +So he mounted his horse and rode to Biarg, attended by two men, and +called out Atli to talk with him. + +Atli came forth and welcomed him. + +Then Thorbiorn said: "You are determined to pick up fresh occasion of +quarrel, and stir ill-will between us. Why have you enticed away my +servant? You had no right to behave thus to me." + +Atli replied quietly: "You are mistaken. I did not entice him away. +The fellow came to me. I did not know for certain that he was your +servant, nor did I know for how long he was engaged to you. Show me that +I have done wrong and I will make reparation. If he is yours, reclaim +him, I will not keep him. At the same time I do not like to shut him +out of my house." + +"I claim the man," said Thorbiorn; "I forbid him to do a stroke of work +here. I expect him returned to me." + +"Nay," said Atli, "take the man, you are welcome to him; but I cannot +bind him hand and foot and convey him to your house. If you can get him +to go with you, well and good, I will not detain him." + +Atli had answered fairly, but this did not satisfy Thorbiorn; he knew +that he could not drag the man back to his farm, nor could he persuade +him to follow, so he rode home in a mighty bad temper, his heart boiling +with anger against Atli. And now he thought that he would at one and +the same time punish Atli for taking away his servant, and wipe out the +wrong of the slaying of the Slowcoach. + +In the evening when the men came in from work, Atli said that Thorbiorn +had been there and had reclaimed his churl, and Atli bade the fellow +depart and go back to his master. + +Then the man said: "That’s a true proverb, He who is most praised is +found most faulty at the test. I came to you because I heard so much +good of you, and now that I have toiled for you without wages all the +early summer, as I have worked for none else, you want to kick me out of +doors as winter draws on. I will not go. You will have to beat me as +Thorbiorn beat me to make me leave this house, and then, even, I am not +sure but that I shall remain in spite of being beaten." + +Atli did not know exactly what to do. He did not wish to ill-treat the +fellow, and yet without ill-treatment there was no getting rid of him. +So he let him remain on. + +One day a warm wet rainy mist covered the land, the hills were enveloped +in cloud; Atli sent out some of his men to mow at a distance where there +was some grass, and others he sent out fishing. He remained at home +himself with only two or three men. + +That day Thorbiorn rode over the ridge that divided the dales, with a +helmet on his head, a sword at his side, and a barbed spear in his hand. +He came to Biarg, and no one noticed his approach. He went to the main +door, and knocked at it. Then he drew back behind the buildings, so +that no one might see him from the door. In Iceland the walls of a +house between the gables are buttressed with turf—thick walls or +buttresses that project several feet, and are about six or nine feet +thick. Such buttresses stood one on each side of the hall door at +Biarg, and behind one of these Thorbiorn concealed himself. + +When he had knocked at the door, a woman came to it, unbarred and looked +up and down the terrace or platform on which the house was built, but +saw no one. Thorbiorn peeped from behind the wall of turf and caught a +glimpse of her, and then backed again into his hiding-place. The woman +then returned into the house, and told Atli that there was no one +outside. + +She had hardly spoken before Thorbiorn knocked again. Then Atli jumped +up and said: "There must be someone there, and I will go and see myself +who it is." + +Then he went forth and looked out of the door, but saw no one, as +Thorbiorn had again retreated behind the bank of turf. The water was +streaming down, so Atli did not go from under cover, but laid a hand on +each of the door-posts, and looked up and down the valley. + +Just as he was looking away from where Thorbiorn was concealed, that man +suddenly swung himself round the bank of turf, and with all his might +drove the spear against Atli, using both his hands. The spear entered +him below the ribs, and ran right through him. Atli uttered no cry, and +fell forward over the threshold. At that the women rushed forth, and +they took Atli up, but he was dead. + +Then Thorbiorn, who had run to his horse, which was tied up behind the +house, rode out on the terrace, and halting before the door proclaimed +that he had done this deed. + +Now this was a formality which, according to Icelandic law, made his act +to be not regarded as a murder. A murder by law was the slaying of a +man by one who concealed his name. + +Then Thorbiorn rode home. + +The goodwife, Asdis, sent for her men, and Atli’s body was laid out, and +he was buried beside his father, old Asmund, who had died during the +winter. There was a church in those days at Biarg, but there is none +there now. When I was there I asked of the farmer now living in Biarg +where was the old churchyard, but its site was lost; so I could not tell +where were the graves of Atli the kind-hearted, honourable man, and the +rest of the family. + +Great was the lamentation through the district at the death of one so +loved and respected, and hard things were said of Thorbiorn for what he +had done. + + + + + *CHAPTER XXI.* + + *THE RETURN OF GRETTIR.* + + + _An Old Charge—Trial in Absence—Three Messengers of Ill—Grettir + and his Mother—Grettir goes to Revenge Atli_ + + +That same summer news reached Iceland of the burning of the hostel by +Grettir. When Thorir of Garth heard of the death of his sons he was +furious. He rode to the great annual assize at Thingvalla, with a large +retinue, and charged Grettir with having killed his boys maliciously; +and he demanded that for this offence Grettir should be outlawed. + +Then Skapti the judge said: "If things are as reported, then surely +Grettir has committed an evil deed; but we have only heard one side of +the story, and we only know of what has happened at third hand, by +report; there are two ways of telling every story. Let us wait till +Grettir returns to Iceland. There will be time enough for this action to +be taken. I will not give my word that Grettir is guilty till we have +heard what he has to say for himself." + +But Thorir was such a powerful chieftain that he overbore all +resistance. It was said that he could not lawfully take action against +a man in his absence; but this was overridden by Thorir, who by packing +the court was able to carry out what he wanted. Moreover, owing to the +death of Atli there was no one to oppose him vigorously. + +He pushed on matters so hard that nought could avail to acquit Grettir, +and he was proclaimed an outlaw throughout the whole of Iceland, and +Thorir also put a price on his head of many ounces of silver, which he +said he would pay to that man who would kill him in Norway or Iceland, +or wherever he might find him. + +Towards the close of the summer Grettir arrived in a vessel off the +mouth of the White-river, an exile from Norway. + +It was a still summer night when the ship dropped anchor. A boat came +from the shore, and was rowed to the ship. Grettir stood watching it +from the bows, leaning on his sword. As it touched the side of the +ship, he called, "What news do you bring?" + +"Are you Grettir, Asmund’s son?" asked a man rising in the boat. + +"I am," replied Grettir. + +"Then we bear you ill news: your father is dead." + +Another man stood up in the boat, and said: "Grettir, he was an old man, +and you can hardly have expected to hear that he was still alive. But +what I have to say concerns you as closely, and is unexpected. Your +brother Atli has been slain by Thorbiorn Oxmain." + +Then a third man rose and said: "But these tidings concern others first +and you secondly. What I have to say concerns you mainly. You have +been made an outlaw throughout the length and breadth of the land, and a +price is set on your head." + +It is said that Grettir did not change colour, nor did a muscle in his +whole body quiver; but he lifted up his voice and sang this strain— + + "All at once are showered + Round me, the Rhymer, + Tidings sad—my exile, + Father’s loss and brother’s, + Branching boughs of battle! + Many a blue-blade-breaker + Shall suffer for my sorrow." + + +The branching bough of battle is a periphrasis for a man, so also is a +blue-blade-breaker; and it is the use of such periphrases that +constituted poetry to Icelandic ideas. One night Grettir swam ashore. +He thought that his enemies would be awaiting him, and should he venture +to land in a boat would fall on him in overwhelming numbers; so he took +to the water and swam to a point at some distance. Then he took a horse +that he found in a farm near where he came ashore, and he rode across +country to the Middle-firth, and reached home in two days. He reached +Biarg during the night when all were asleep; so instead of disturbing +the household, he opened a private door, stepped into the hall, stole up +to his mother’s bed, and threw his arms round her neck. + +She started up, and asked who was there. When he told her, she clasped +him to her heart, and laid her head, sobbing, on his breast, saying. +"Oh, my son! I am bereaved of my children! Atli, my eldest, has been +foully murdered, and you are outlawed; only Illugi remains." + +Grettir remained at home a few days in close concealment. Even the men +of the farm were not suffered to know that he was there. He heard the +story of how Thorbiorn Oxmain had basely and in cowardly manner slain +his brother, when Atli was unarmed; and Grettir considered that it was +his duty to avenge his death. + + + + + *CHAPTER XXII* + + *THE SLAYING OF OXMAIN.* + + + _By the Boiling Spring—Grettir knocks the Nail from his + Spear—Oxmain places his Son in Ambush—The Fight with + Oxmain—Grettir’s Spear-head—The Law concerning Manslaying—A + Rising Black Cloud_ + + +One fine day, soon after his return, Grettir mounted a horse, and +without an attendant rode over the hill to the Ramsfirth, and came down +to Thorod’s-stead. This is still a good farm, the best on the fiord, +and it is by far the best built pile of buildings thereabouts. It faces +the south and is banked up with turf to the north, to shelter it against +the cold and furious gales from the Polar Sea. The soil is +comparatively rich there, and there are tracts of good grass land on the +slope of the hill by the side of the inlet of sea. The farm buildings +consists at present of a set of wooden gable ends painted red, and the +roofs are all of turf, where the buttercups grow and shine luxuriantly. + +Grettir rode up to the farmhouse, about noon, and knocked at the door. +Some women came out and welcomed him; they did not know who he was, or +they would have been more sparing in their welcome. He asked after +Thorbiorn, and was told that he was gone to the meadow, a little way +further down the firth, where he had gone to bind hay, and that he had +taken with him his son, called Arnor, who was a boy of sixteen. + +When Grettir heard this, he said farewell to the women, and turned his +horse’s head to ride down the fiord towards a boiling spring that +bubbles up out of the rock, throwing up a cloud of steam, and running in +a scalding rill into the sea. Now the rock is perhaps warm there, or +the warm water helps vegetation; certain it is that thereabouts the +grass grows thickly, and there it was that Thorbiorn was making his +bundles of hay. As Grettir rode along near the water, below the field, +Thorbiorn saw him. He had just made up one bundle of hay, and he was +engaged on another. He had set his shield and sword against the load, +and his lad Arnor had a hand-axe beside him. + +Thorbiorn looked hard at Grettir as he came along, and he said to the +boy: "There is a fellow riding this way. I wonder who he is, and +whether he wants us. Leave tying up the hay, and let us find out what +his errand is." + +Then Grettir leaped off his horse; he had a helmet on his head, and was +girt with the short sword, and he bore a great spear in his hand that +had a long sharp blade but no barbs. The socket was inlaid with silver, +and a nail went through the socket fastening it on to the staff of the +spear. He sat down on a stone, and knocked the nail out. His reason +was that he intended to throw the spear at Thorbiorn, and if he missed +him, he thought the spear-head and the haft would come apart, and would +be of no use to Thorbiorn to fling back at him. + +Oxmain said to his son: "I verily believe that is Grettir, Asmund’s son, +he is so big; I know no one else so big. He has got occasion enough +against us, and if he is come here it is not with peaceable intentions. +Now we must manage cunningly. I do not know that he has seen you; so +you hide behind the bundle of hay, and lie hid till you see him engaged +with me. Then you steal up noiselessly behind with your axe, and strike +him one blow with all your might between the shoulder-blades. When I +see you coming up, I will fight the more furiously so as to draw off his +attention, that he may not be able to look round. Have no fear, he +cannot hurt you, as his back will be turned to you. Get close enough to +make sure, and you will kill him with one blow." + +Now Grettir came uphill into the field, and when he came within a +spear-throw of them, he cast his spear at Thorbiorn; but the head was +looser on the shaft than he had expected it would be, and it became +detached in its flight, and fell off and dropped into a marshy place and +sank, and the shaft flew on but a little way and then fell harmlessly to +the ground. + +Then Thorbiorn took his shield, put it before him, drew his sword and +ran against Grettir and engaged him. Grettir had, as already said, the +short sword that he had taken out of the barrow, and with that he warded +off the blows of Thorbiorn and smote at him. Oxmain was a very strong +man, and his shield was covered with well-tanned hide stretched over +oak, and the blade of Grettir fell on it, hacked into it, and sometimes +caught so that he could not at once withdraw it. Thorbiorn now began to +deal more furious blows. Now just as Grettir was wrenching his sword +away from the shield, into which it had bitten deep, he saw someone +close behind him with an axe raised. Instantly he tore out his sword +and smote back over his head to protect his back from his assailant +behind, and the blow came on Arnor just as he was on the point of +driving his axe in between the shoulders of Grettir, so that he +staggered back, mortally wounded. Thorbiorn, whose eye was on his son, +retreated a step, lost his presence of mind for a moment, and thereupon +down came Grettir’s sword on his shield and split it in half. Grettir +pursued his advantage, pressed on him, and struck him down at his feet, +dead at a blow. + +Then he went in search of his silver-inlaid spear-head, but could not +find it. So he mounted his horse again, rode on to the nearest +farmhouse, and there told what he had done. Many, many years after, +about 1250, the spear-head was found in the marsh. When I was in +Iceland I also obtained a very similar spear-head, only not +silver-inlaid, that was found in the volcanic sand; it had probably been +lost in a very similar manner. + +It seems to us in these civilized times very horrible this continual +slaying that took place in Iceland; but we must remember that, as +already said, there were in those days not a single policeman, soldier, +or officer of justice in the island. When a trial took place, the +prosecutor was the person aggrieved, or the nearest akin. The court +pronounced sentence, and then the prosecutor was required to carry out +what the law had ordered. He was to be constable and executioner. Now +the law, or custom which was the same as law, for there was no written +code, was that when one man had been killed, the next of kin was bound +to prosecute the slayer and obtain from him money compensation, or +outlawry, or else he might kill the slayer himself, or one of his kin. +This latter provision seems to us outrageous, that because A kills B, +therefore that C, who is B’s brother, may kill D, who is brother to A. +But so the law or custom stood and was recognized as binding, and not to +carry out the law or custom was regarded as dishonourable. It must be +remembered that Iceland was colonized about A.D. 900, and that Grettir +was born only about 97 years after, and that Christianity was adopted in +1000; that is to say, it was sanctioned by law, but no one was forced to +become a Christian unless he liked. Also, that there was no government +in the island, no central authority, and that the colonists lived much +as do the first settlers now in a new colony which is not under the +crown, or like the diggers at the gold mines. + +When Grettir had slain Thorbiorn Oxmain, he went home to Biarg and told +his mother, who said it was well that Atli’s blood was wiped out by the +death of the man who had so basely and in such cowardly fashion slain +him; but she said she foresaw more trouble coming like a rising black +cloud, and that this would make it more difficult for Grettir to get +relief from his outlawry. + + + + + *CHAPTER XXIII.* + + *AT LEARWOOD.* + + + _At Hvamsfiord—Iceland Scenery—An Iceland Paradise—One Lucky + Chance—Kuggson’s Story—Onund’s Voyage—In Search of Uninhabited + Land—The Landing—Eric’s Gift—A Cold Back!—Better than Nothing—An + Oversight—Death of Onund—Planning a Murder—Killing the Curd + Bottle—The Churl’s Axe—The Red Stream—Hard Times—The + "Wooden-tub"—The Stranded Whale—The Fight over the Whale—Retreat + of the Coldbackers—Before the Assize—The Judgment—An Evil + Act—Ill-luck follows Ill_ + + +After the slaying of Thorbiorn Oxmain, Grettir would not remain at home, +lest trouble should come on his mother; so he rode across the Neck first +of all to his brother-in-law, at Melar, at the head of the Ramsfirth, to +ask his advice. His brother-in-law there was called Gamli; he was not +very rich or powerful, and he represented to Grettir that it would never +do for him to remain in such near proximity to Thorod’s-stead, in the +same valley, at the head of the same firth. This Grettir acknowledged, +so he stayed there but a few days, and then rode over the high +table-land to the Lax, or Salmon-dale, where was the watershed, and the +river of the salmon ran west into Hvamsfiord. One of the most +interesting and best written of the Icelandic sagas relates to the +history of this valley. The Hvamsfiord is by nature wonderfully +protected against western storms, for the entrance is almost blocked to +the west by a countless multitude of islands, of which only one is +moderately large, and to the north-west is not only a grassy promontory, +but also a natural breakwater of three long narrow islands. + +Outside the cluster of islands are eddies and whirlpools, and the +passage between them is not always safe; but when a vessel has passed +through between the islets it enters as into a wide beautiful inland +lake, the shape of which is that of a boot, with the sole to the east +and the toe turned up north. Moreover, along the north side of this +sheltered firth are high and steep hills that screen from the water all +gales sweeping from the Pole; and in the glens and under the crags of +these hills exposed to the south are beautiful woods of birch. + +Formerly in Iceland the woods were much more extensive than they are +now; for the old settlers found in them plenty of fuel, and the +birch-trees grew to a fair size. Now, alas, with fatal want of +consideration, the trees have been so cut down that the woods are rare +and the trees are small. There is hardly a birch-tree whose top one +cannot touch when riding through a wood on a little pony no bigger than +a Shetlander. + +Exactly at the toe of the boot is a rich grassy basin, where two streams +flow into the fiord, and here is a beautiful view from the water. One +sees in front the green basin, and above it rise the mountains to +Skeggoxl, a cone covered with eternal snows and with glaciers streaming +down its flanks. Here, in a sweet sheltered nook, basking in the sun, +in spring with the river-side and the marshes blazing with immense +marigolds, and with the short grass slopes speckled with blue tiny +gentianella, is the farm, and near it the wooden church of Hvam. In +another part of the basin is a settlement called Asgard, the "Home of +the gods;" for those who settled there first thought the spot so +delightful, so warm, that they named it after the sunny land of fable, +where it was said that their ancestors, the hero-gods of the northern +race, had lived in the east before ever they crossed Russia and settled +in Norway. Asgard to their minds was Paradise. + +Paradise in Iceland is not a paradise elsewhere; nevertheless, to one +who has travelled over barren hills and between glaciers, this warm nook +with its green grass and woods of glistening birch was a place of +inexpressible charm. Now, just to the east, where would come the ball +of the toe, looking across the end of this still blue lake-like fiord, +up the valleys to the snows of Skeggoxl, is the farm of Learwood, in a +grassy flat by the water, backed by birchwood and hills, and screened +from the east as well as from the north winds. Here lived Thorstein +Kuggson. Kuggson’s mother was the daughter of Asgeir, the father of +Audun of Willowdale, with whom Grettir had a tussle on the ice, and whom +he afterwards upset with his foot when he was carrying curds. Kuggson +through his father was related to the influential and wealthy family in +the Laxdale, whose history is well known through the noble saga that +relates the story of that valley. + +Grettir spent the autumn with his relative Kuggson. Now, whilst he was +there he fell to talking one day with Kuggson about his trial of +strength with Audun, and Grettir said how glad he was that nothing had +come of it. It was said that he was a man of ill-luck; yet luck had +befriended him on that occasion in sending Bard to interrupt the +struggle before both lost their tempers and the quarrel became serious. + +Then said Kuggson: "You remind me of the story of Bottle-back, which, of +course, you know." + +"It is many years since I have heard the tale," answered Grettir; "for, +indeed, I can be little at home now, and am out of the way of hearing +stories of one’s forefathers. Tell me the tale." + +Then Kuggson told Grettir + + + + *The Story of Bottle-Back* + + +"You know very surely, Grettir, that your great-grandfather was Onund +Treefoot. He was so called because in the great battle of Haf’s fiord, +fought against King Harald, he had one of his legs cut off below the +knee. You have been told how that Onund had first to wife Asa, and that +he settled at Cold-back; and he had by his first wife two sons, Thorgeir +and Ufeig, who was also called Grettir, and it is after him that you are +named. Onund’s second wife was the mother of Thorgrim Grizzlepate, your +grandfather. + +"The story I am going to tell you relates to Thorgeir, the eldest son of +Onund, and how he got the name of Bottle-back. You might think he +acquired the designation from a rounded back. It was not so, he had a +back as straight as yours. + +"But to understand the story of how he got the name, I must go back to +the time when Onund, your great-grandfather, came to Iceland. That was +in the year of Christ 900; he was unable to remain any longer in Norway, +because the king, Harald, was in such enmity with him. So he resolved +that he would come to Iceland and seek there a new home. Now this was +somewhat late, for the colonization of this island had begun some five +or six and twenty years before, and there had come out great numbers of +Norwegian chiefs, who fled from the rapacity and the vengeance of King +Harald Fairhair, who outlawed every man who took up arms against him." + +But the story shall be told not in Kuggson’s words, but in mine. + +Onund sailed to Iceland from Norway in the summer of A.D. 900, and he +had a hard voyage and baffling winds from the south that drove him far +away to the north into the Polar Sea, till he came near the pack-ice; +and then there came a change, and he made south, and after much beating +about, for he had lost his reckoning, he made land, and found that he +had come upon the north coast of Iceland, and those who knew the looks +of the land said he was off the Strand Bay. To the west rose the rocks +and glaciers of the Drang Jokull, and to the east the long promontory +that separated the Hunafloi from Skagafiord. + +Presently a ten-oared boat put off from shore, rowed by six men, and +approached Onund’s vessel, and the men in the boat hailed the vessel and +asked whose it was. Onund gave his name and inquired to whom the men +belonged. They said they were servant men belonging to a farm at +Drangar, just under the mighty field of glacier of Drang Jokull. Onund +asked if all the land was taken up by settlers, and the men answered +that along the north coast all such land as was worth anything was taken +already, and that most was also settled to the south. + +Then Onund consulted with his shipmates what was to be done, whether +coast along the north protuberance of Iceland in search of uninhabited +land, or go into the great bay and see whether any chance opened for +them there. They had arrived so late in Iceland after the main rush of +settlers that they could not expect to get any really favourable +quarters. The men advised against exploring the north, exposed to the +cold gales from the Polar Sea, where the fiords would be blocked with +ice half the year; and thought there would be no harm trying what they +could find further south. + +So Onund turned his vessel in towards the head of the splendid bay +Hunafloi; but seeing a creek that seemed fairly sheltered, having on the +north some quaint spikes of rock, and a great mountain to the south like +a horn, and finding that this fiord gave a turn northwards under the +shelter of the mountains, the men with Onund’s consent ran in there, and +having anchored the vessel, entered a boat and rowed ashore. On +reaching the strand they were met by men who asked them who they were +and what they did there. Onund said he had come with peaceable +intentions, and then he was told that all that fiord was occupied, and +that the owner of the land was Eric Trap, a wealthy man. Eric came to +the beach and hospitably invited Onund and his ship’s crew to his house. +There Onund told him his difficulty. He had come to Iceland too late, +and he feared that he would be able nowhere to find unclaimed lands. + +Eric considered a while, and then said there was more land that he had +claimed than he could well keep in hand, and that he would be pleased to +accommodate a man of such noble family and character as was Onund. +Onund pressed him to receive payment for the land, but this Eric +generously refused. When he had come there, said Eric, the country had +been unpeopled, and he had just claimed what he liked, and had claimed +more than he wanted. Now he desired to have neighbours, and if Onund +would be friendly none would be better pleased than himself to have him +near. + +This gratifying offer satisfied Onund, but, as the saying is, ’Don’t +look a gift-horse in the mouth,’ he did not at once close with the +offer, but asked to be allowed to see the land Eric was so ready to part +with. + +Accordingly he rode with Eric along the coast, passed the headland where +was the horn-shaped mountain, and came upon a fiord where some boiling +springs poured up in the sea out of its depths; the mountains on the +north came down so abruptly to the water’s edge that the only habitable +ground lay at the head of the firth and on the south side, having a +northern aspect. Moreover there was a lofty range to the south, so that +in winter the sun would never light up this firth. Onund did not much +like it, he thought that Eric had offered him the place because he did +not care for it himself; so he went across the mountain range and down +into the little bay south of it. As they rode it was over snow, a long +descent of wintry mountain, till they reached a valley in which was a +hot spring, a little lake, and some grass. The situation was somewhat +more inviting than that Onund had already seen, but it was not very +attractive, and looking back on the long dreary slope of snow he said, +"A cold back! a cold back! I would like to have had one warmer." "That +is not easily acquired," answered Eric. "Further south there is no +fiord for many miles till you come to one occupied by a man called +Biarni. That I can tell you is a fertile settlement, there are woods +and pastures, and hot springs and good anchorage; but that is not my +land to give you." + +Then Onund sang a stave: + + "All across life’s strands do run, + I who many war-wagers won, + Meadows green and pastures fair + Once were mine, and woods to spare. + Left behind, I rid the steed + That o’er wave, with wind doth speed.[#] + Cold—cold, icy back behind, + This is what alone I find, + Hard the lot that fate doth yield + To the bearer of the shield." + +[#] _i.e._ a ship. + + +Eric answered, "Many men have lost everything in Norway, and have got +nothing in exchange. Cold may be the back against which to lean; but +better cold back than none at all." + +This was true. Onund had not received Eric’s offer graciously; but he +now accepted it, and he called the second bay he saw—that into which he +had descended over snow—Coldback, and that remains the name to this day. + +Eric behaved very nobly; he gave up to Onund the whole tract of land +from the Horn-headland to the limit where Biarni’s land began. He +received the whole of Reykjafiord, Fishless Creek, and Coldback Bay. + +Then Onund built himself a house at Coldback; and there was no +difficulty about wood, for the Gulfstream flowed up past the great +north-west promontory of Iceland, curled round into Hunafloi, and +deposited a quantity of American timber as drift all along that coast. +Indeed, the drift was so abundant that neither Eric nor Onund made any +agreement about it. Now, as it happened in the sequel, this was an +oversight. + +Onund prospered at Coldback, and even set up for himself a second farm +at the head of the firth to the north, called Reykja-firth, from the +boiling springs that puffed and bubbled up in the sea at the entrance; +and a hot spring is in Icelandic—Reykr. + +Now, a few years after Onund had settled in Iceland, his good wife Asa +died. He had by her two sons—the elder was called Thorgeir, and the +younger Ufeig Grettir. After a while Onund went courting a woman called +Thordis, in Middle-firth, and he married her, and by her had a son +called Thorgrim; he grew to be a big man, very strong, wise, and a +capital man at husbandry. When he was twenty-five years old his hair +grew gray, and so he went by the name of Thorgrim Grizzle-pate, and he +was the grandfather of Grettir. After the death of Onund, his widow +married, as already said, Audun of Willowdale, and their son was Asgeir, +the father of Grettir’s cousin Audun, with whom he had that affray on +the ice, and then with the bottle of curds. + +When Onund was a very old man, then he died in his bed, and he was +buried under a great mound, which you may see at Coldback if you go +there. It is called Old Treefoot’s cairn. When he was dead, then +Thorgrim Grizzlepate and his half-brothers, Thorgeir and Ufeig Grettir, +lived together on the best of terms at Coldback, and managed the +property between them. + +In time Eric Trap of Arness died also, and left his lands to his son +Flossi. He had remained in friendship with Onund all his life; but +Flossi, his son, was a grasping man, and he was often heard to grumble +about the Coldback family, and say that they were squatters on his +father’s land, and had no title to show for the land they held. +Thorgrim Grizzlepate and his half-brothers did not wish to quarrel with +Flossi, so they kept out of his company; and when there were sports of +hurling, and wrestling, and horse-fighting, strayed away, so as not to +be involved in a quarrel with him. + +Now, Thorgeir was the eldest of the three brothers at Coldback, and he +was mightily fond of fishing. This was known to Flossi, and he made a +plot for slaying him; for he was envious of the brothers, and wanted to +get back all their lands into his own possession. He had got a +house-churl called Finn, and he and Finn had some talk together. The end +of this talk was that Finn started secretly for Coldback armed with a +hatchet, and he hid himself in the boat-house at Coldback. + +Early in the morning Thorgeir got ready to go out fishing, for the +weather was good, the sea calm and was alive with fish. His nets were +in the boat, and before sunrise he left his bed and dressed, and went to +the boat-house to start on his excursion. He had not the smallest +suspicion of mischief, and as he was like to be on the water for a long +time, he flung a great leather bottle of curds over his back. As already +said, these leather bottles were no other than the hides of goats or +sheep, sewn up and converted into receptacles for liquid. + +So Thorgeir went to the boat-house with the bottle of curd over his +back, opened the door, and went in. He did not look round, he had no +suspicion of evil, and he did not see Finn lurking in the dark corner. +It was, moreover, very dark in the boat-house. Thorgeir stooped to get +hold of the boat and thrust her out, when all at once out from the dark +corner leaped the churl, and brought the axe down on Thorgeir’s back. +The blow made the bottle squeak, and all the curds gushed out. That was +enough for Finn. He made sure he had killed Thorgeir, so he ran away as +fast as he could back to Arness, burst into the house, and shouted to +his master "I have killed him! I have killed him! And he squeaked! he +squeaked!" + +"Let me look at the axe," said Flossi. Then, when he had the axe in his +hand he turned it about and laughed, and said, "Verily, I did not think +that Thorgeir had milk in his veins instead of blood. That accounts for +it, that you have been able to slay him." + +This affair was a subject of much comment, and much laughter did it +provoke. Thorgeir had not received the smallest wound, only his bottle +was split, and ever after he went by the name of Bottle-back. + +But a song was made about this event which was never forgotten. It runs +thus:— + + "Of the days of old + Great tales are told + How heroes went forth to fight, + Their shields, for show + Were whitened as snow, + And their weapons were burnished bright + The battle began, + In the weapon-clang, + The red blood flowed apace + In rivers shed + It dyed red + The shields o’er all their face. + But nowaday + We tune our lay + To tell a different story. + The churls who fight + Bring axes white, + With curds and whey made gory." + + +When Kuggson ceased, Grettir laughed heartily. "Ah!" said he, "that +cannot be said now, for indeed there flows much blood." + +"You speak the truth," answered Kuggson; "and I wish that this red +stream flowed less abundantly." + +"That may be," said Grettir; "but I would fain hear the rest of the +story. I have not heard it told me for a long time; and, indeed, to +speak the truth, much of it I have clean forgotten, though I did hear it +when I was a boy at home." + +"If you will hear what follows, it must be as a new story," said +Kuggson. Again I will tell it in my own words. + + + + *The Story of the Stranded Whale* + + +Hard times came to Iceland, such as had not been known since it was +settled, for the timber that had been thrown up by the sea came to an +end, or very nearly so. There had been great accumulations, and these +were exhausted, and for some reason or other that cannot now be +explained the Gulf-stream ceased to carry on its current the amount of +timber it had formerly, the wreckage of the forests on the Mississippi, +swept down into the great Mexican Gulf, and thence washed out over the +vast Atlantic, borne on the warm stream to the north, to give fuel to +those lands which were by nature unprovided with trees. At this time +the axe was laid against the largest and finest birch that grew in the +forests in Iceland. But none of that timber was big and good enough for +building purposes. + +This deficiency in drift-wood continued for many seasons, and if men +required building timber they were constrained to send to Norway for it. +Now, it happened that about this time a great merchant vessel was +wrecked in the fiord in the lap of which was Arness, where lived Flossi, +and he took four or five of the chapmen to his house, and lodged them +there well and hospitably, and the other wrecked men were quartered in +other farmhouses near. All winter the men were engaged in building a +new ship out of the wreck and what other timber they could get; but they +were not skilful over their work, and they built a badly-proportioned +vessel, over small at the stem and stern and over big amidships; and +this vessel was much laughed at, and men called it the Wooden-tub, and +that bay where Flossi lived was ever after called Wooden-tub Bay, +because this broad-beamed, comical vessel was built there.[#] + +[#] It is still so called, Trèkyllis-víc. + +Now, it fell out that at the spring equinox there was a great storm from +the north, and it lasted a week. The waves came in huge rollers against +the cliffs, and spouted like geysers into the air, and all the air was +in a haze with spray, and was full of the noise of the sea. Those who +lived on the coast were not sorry for the storm, because they hoped it +would blow in drift-wood and other spoils of the deep upon the shores; +and sure enough, when it abated, a man who lived out on Reykja-ness came +and told Flossi that there was a great whale washed ashore there. Then +Flossi sent word to all the farms round to the north. But hard-by where +the whale had come ashore lived a farmer named Einar, who was a tenant +under the brothers at Coldback, so he took a boat and rowed off to +Coldback, and told them about the monster that was stranded. + +When Thorgrim and his brothers Thorgeir and Ufeig heard this, they got +ready at once, and were twelve in a ten-oared boat, with axes and knives +for cutting up the whale. Another boat put off from another of their +farms, with six men in it, and others were sure to come as soon as they +could get ready. + +In the meantime, Flossi and all his company, his kindred, servants, and +tenants, had hurried to the spot, and were already engaged in cutting up +the whale, when round the ness came the boat of the brothers. Now, the +shore where the whale was cast up belonged to the brothers, and they +called out to Flossi to assert their right to whatever was found on the +strand. Flossi answered that if they had any right to the drift they +must show their claim. They had, he said, been allowed by his father to +squat on his land, but his father had never given over to them all his +rights, certainly not the lordship over the strand, and claim to flotsam +and jetsam. Whilst the dispute continued, up came other boats of the +Coldback party, and then a long boat, that contained a fellow called +Swan, who lived in Biornfiord, to the south of Coldback, a very warm +friend of the brothers, and a plucky, resolute man. + +Thorgrim was hesitating what to do, when Swan told him it would be mean +to allow himself to be robbed. Moreover, this assault on his rights, if +not resisted would establish a precedent, and Flossi would claim +everything found on their strand, even at their very doors. + +So a fight began. The Coldback men came ashore, and Thorgeir +Bottle-back mounted the carcase of the whale, to drive off the servants +of Flossi. Among these was Finn; he was near the head of the whale, and +stood in a foothold he had cut for himself. Then Thorgeir Bottle-back +said, "Ah! I owe you a stroke of the axe, which has not been repaid as +yet," and he smote at him, and felled him. + +Flossi egged on his men, and a desperate fight ensued; some fought on +the body of the whale, some about it. There were hardly any present who +had other weapons save choppers and axes, and they hewed at each other +with these. But some had no other weapons than the ribs of the whale, +and it is even said that some of the churls flourished great strips of +blubber, with which they banged each other about, nearly smothering each +other in oil, but not doing much harm. + +The battle was going ill with Flossi, when there arrived a contingent of +men from Drangar, with many boats, and gave help to Flossi, and then +those of Coldback were borne back overpowered; but they did not retreat +till they had loaded their boats. Swan shouted to the Coldbackers to get +on board as quickly as they could, for he saw more men coming against +them from the north. Flossi received a wound, but Ufeig, one of the +three brothers, was dealt his death-wound before he could get into the +boat, and he fell on the strand. Thorgeir Bottle-back at once leaped +out of the vessel, ran to his brother, heaved him up in his arms and +plunged back through the surf with him, and lifted him into the boat, +where he died. It is told that in this battle one man was beaten to +death by the rib of a whale, and that was one of the chapmen of the +wrecked vessel. + +After this, the matter was brought before the assize, for the question +of the right to the shore had to be decided one way or the other. And +it was decided in this manner: Flossi was condemned to outlawry for his +high-handed proceeding, and because of the death of Ufeig Grettir; but +the question of the rights was thus settled by the judge, Thorkel Moon. +He said, "I cannot see that the claim made by the Coldback men is +established, for no money passed between Onund and Eric. I know this +about the land that was possessed by my grandfather Ingolf, and which is +now my own. He received it from Steinver the Old; but then he gave her +a mottled cloak, and that was a pledge of sale; and this has never been +contested. In the matter of the lands inhabited by the Coldback men, as +far as I can learn, not even a straw was given in exchange. However, it +is proved that they have held the land, and have taken the drift for a +long time; and that the original owner, Eric, did not dispute their +doing so. I therefore decide that a compromise shall hold good. The +Coldback brothers must surrender all the Reykja-firth, and content +themselves with the land south of that. And I also decide that they +shall exercise full and undisputed rights to the land, to all that grows +on it, to the sea and what it throws up, along that bit of strand that +remains to them." + + +Now when Kuggson had finished this story, then Grettir said, "You have +not told how my grandfather and great-uncle parted." + +"No," said Kuggson. "There is not much to tell about that. The two +brothers agreed to separate, as your grandfather wanted to marry in the +Middlefirth. Bottle-back remained at Coldback." + +"Now that you have spoken so much about Coldback," said Grettir, "I will +tell you something, though it is to my discredit." + +"Say on," answered Kuggson. "Men are generally more ready to boast than +to discredit themselves." + +"When I was a little boy," said Grettir, "my father suffered from a cold +back and great pains in it, in winter, and he only got ease when it was +rubbed with a hot flannel. I was a bad, idle boy, and I was set in +winter to rub his cold back. This I resented. I thought it was a work +fit only for servants, and one day when my father had made me rub his +old back till I was tired, then he said to me, ’You are growing slack; +rub harder, that I may feel your hand.’ ’Do you so want to feel my +hand, father,’ I said. Then I saw a wool-comb hard by that the women +had used for carding wool, and I caught it and rubbed down my father’s +back with that—so that he shrieked with pain, and I made the blood flow. +It was a wicked act. I think of it now the old man is dead, and I am +sorry." + +"Yes," said Kuggson, "it was an evil act. Men say that you are an +unlucky man. Now, I do not wonder at your ill-luck, for none ever +raised his hand against his father but there followed him ill in +consequence of so doing all his days." + + + + + *CHAPTER XXIV.* + + *THE FOSTER-BROTHERS.* + + + _Grettir’s Promise—The Yule Ox—Holding the Boat—A Hard + Pull—Grettir and the Ox—Thorgeir’s Hatred—The Concealed Axe—Evil + Sport—An Iceland Moor_ + + +Now, the kinsmen of Oxmain heard where Grettir was, so they resolved to +form a party, and fall upon him at Learwood. But Grettir’s +brother-in-law was aware of this and forewarned Grettir, so he went away +to the north, and he followed Gilsfiord till he reached Reyk-knolls, +where was a pleasant farm near the sea, where also were a great number +of ever-boiling springs, that poured and squirted and fizzed out of +mounds of red-clay. Here lived a man called Thorgils Arison, and he +asked this man if he would give him shelter through the winter. + +Arison said that he would. "But," said he, "there is only plain fare in +my house." + +"I am not choice as to my food, so long as I have a roof over my head," +answered Grettir. + +"There is one matter further," said Arison. "Somehow or other I get men +come to me and offer to become my guests who cannot settle elsewhere, +and I get a rough lot at times. That comes of being too good-hearted to +bid them pack. Even now I have two such good-for-naughts guesting with +me, two foster-brothers, Thorgeir and Thormod; rough, unkempt men, of +bad tempers both, and I wot not how you will agree together. You may +come and put your head within my doors if you will, but on one +condition, that there be no fighting and knocking about of my other +guests." + +Grettir answered that he would not be the first to raise strife, and +that if the foster-brothers provoked him beyond endurance he would go +elsewhere, and not give his host annoyance by a brawl in his house. + +With this promise Arison was content. + +Thorgils Arison was a firm man, and he told the foster-brothers that he +would have no disturbance whilst they were with him, and they also +promised to be orderly. Thorgeir did not like Grettir. He scowled at +him and contradicted him, but did not pursue his rudeness beyond bounds; +and when Grettir was ruffled, a word from the master of the house served +to appease the rising blood. + +So the early winter wore away. + +Now, the good man, Thorgils Arison, owned a cluster of islands in the +firth that are called Olaf’s Isles; they lie a good sea-mile and a half +beyond the ness. On them grass grows, and there the bonder kept his +cattle to fatten in autumn. Now, there was an ox on one of these isles +that Arison said he must have home before the snows and storms of winter +came on, as he intended to kill the beast for the feastings of Yule. So +the foster-brothers and Grettir volunteered to go out to the island, and +fetch the ox home. + +They went down to the sea and got out a ten-oared boat, and there were +but these three to man it. The weather was cold, and the wind was +shifting from the north and not settled. They rowed hard, and reached +the island; but the sea was running and foaming over the shore, and they +saw it would be no easy matter to get the ox on board with such a surf. +So the brothers told Grettir he must hold the boat, whilst they got the +ox in. He agreed, and went into the water, and stood amidships on the +side out to sea, and thrust the boat towards the shore, whilst the +brothers laboured to get the ox in. Thorgeir took up the ox by the hind +legs, and Thormod by the fore legs, as the beast refused to be driven on +board, and so they carried the animal into the boat; but Grettir, who +held the craft, had the sea up to his shoulder-blades, and he held her +perfectly fast. + +When the ox was hove in, Grettir let go and got into the boat. Thormod +took oar in the bows, Thorgeir amidships, and Grettir aft, and so they +made out into the open bay. As they came out from the lee of the island +the squall caught them, the waves leaped and foamed, and Thorgeir +shouted "Now then, stern! Have you gone to sleep? Why are you +lagging?" + +Grettir answered, "The stern will not lag when the rowing afore is +good." + +Thereupon Thorgeir fell to rowing so furiously that both the tholes were +broken. So he called to Grettir, "Row on steadily whilst I mend the +thole-pins." + +Then Grettir rowed so mightily, whilst Thorgeir was engaged mending the +pins, that he wore through the oars, and when Thorgeir was ready they +snapped like matches. + +"Better row with less haste and more caution," growled Thormod. + +Then Grettir stooped and picked out of the bottom of the boat two +unshapen oar-beams that lay there; but as they were too big to go +between the thole-pins, he bored large holes in the gunwales, and thrust +the oars through, and rowed thus so mightily that every rib and plank of +the boat creaked, and the foster-brothers were in fear lest with his +rowing he would tear the craft to pieces. However, they reached the +shore in safety. + +Then Grettir asked whether the brothers would rather haul up the boat, +or go home with the ox. They preferred to haul the boat ashore, and +found that it was hung with icicles, for the water had frozen on the +sides; but Grettir led home the ox, which was very fat, and very +unwilling to be dragged along, so that Grettir became impatient. + +When the foster-brothers had finished bailing out the boat, and had put +her under cover, they went up to the house, and on reaching it Thorgeir +inquired after Grettir, but Arisen the bonder said he had not seen him +or the ox. Then he sent out men in quest of him, for he supposed +something must have befallen him; and when they came to where the land +dipped towards the sea they saw a strange object indeed coming towards +them, and did not know at first whether what they saw was a human being +or a troll.[#] On approaching nearer they saw that this strange object +was Grettir, who was carrying the ox on his back, and striding up the +hill with the beast, which had the head hanging over his shoulder, the +tongue out, and was lowing plaintively. The sight was infinitely +comical, and the men who saw it burst out laughing, and this made +Grettir also laugh, so that he dropped the ox. + + +[#] A troll is a mountain demon or giant. + + +Now, it must be known that this story is not manifestly absurd, for the +Icelandic cattle are very small, like Brittany cows, and bear the same +relation to a good English ox that a pony does to a horse. Nevertheless +the feat was only such as a strong man could have accomplished. It had +taken the two brothers to carry the ox down into the boat, and here was +Grettir alone carrying him up hill. + +This deed of Grettir was much talked of, and this made Thorgeir, the +elder of the foster-brothers, very jealous of Grettir, and he hated him, +and sought to do him an injury. One day after Yule, Grettir went down +to the bath that was made by turning a stream of hot water from one of +the natural boiling springs into a walled basin into which also cold +water could be turned from a rill. In former times the Icelanders were +very particular about bathing, and were a clean people. At the present +day they never bathe at all, and such of the old baths as remain are out +of order and full of grass and mud. + +Thorgeir said to his brother, "Let us go now and try how Grettir will +start, if I set upon him as he comes away from his bath." + +"I do not like this," answered Thormod; "you will vex our host, and get +no advantage over Grettir." + +"I will try what I can do," said the elder; and he took his axe, hid it +under his cloak, and went down towards the bathing-place. + +When he had reached it he said, "Grettir, there is a talk that you have +boasted that no man could make you take to your heels." + +"I never said that," answered Grettir, "but anyhow you are not the man +to make me run." + +Then Thorgier swung up his axe and would have cut at Grettir; but +Grettir suspected that the man meant mischief, and he was ready, so that +the instant he drew out the axe and swung it, Grettir clashed forward at +him, struck him in the chest and sent him staggering back, so that he +sprawled his length on the ground. + +Then Thorgeir shouted to his brother, "Why do you stand by and let this +savage kill me?" + +Thormod then laid hold of Grettir, and endeavoured to drag him away, but +his strength was not sufficient to effect this. + +At that moment up came Arison, the bonder, and he bade them be quiet and +have nought to do with Grettir. + +So the brothers stood up, and Thorgeir pretended it was all sport, that +he had only proposed giving Grettir a fright; but the bonder hardly +believed him. As for the younger of the brothers, it was well seen that +he had been drawn into the matter against his will. So the winter +passed, and peace was kept. This little struggle with Grettir had shown +Thorgeir that it would be ill for him to have dealings with a man so +prompt and strong as Grettir, and he controlled himself and did not seek +to pick a quarrel with him any more. At the same time he did not like +him any better. Thorgils Arison got great credit, when it was reported +that throughout an entire winter he had maintained such turbulent men as +the foster-brothers and Grettir under his roof without their having +fought.[#] + + +[#] There is an entire saga relating to the history of these brothers, +called the Foster-Brothers’ Saga. + + +But when spring came then they went away, all of them, away over the +heaths and moors of the interior. + +When we say that Grettir was on the heaths and moors, it must not be +supposed that the region so called was at all like the moors of Scotland +or England. The heaths and moors of Iceland are upland desert regions +with only here and there a scanty growth of vegetation, a little +whortleberry, no heath at all, but vast tracts of broken stone and mud +and black sand, with perhaps here and there an occasional hill of yellow +sandstone. Most of the rock is perfectly black, and breaks into pieces +with sharp angles. What is called Icelandic moss is a black lichen that +grows on the stones, and there is a very little gray moss to be seen. +Where there is a burn or a stream a little grass may grow, but the +amount is small indeed. + + + + + *CHAPTER XXV.* + + *HOW GRETTIR WAS WELL-NIGH HUNG.* + + + _The Law-man’s Judgment—Snorri’s Compromise—The Compromise + Declined—Grettir Helps Himself—The Spy—Thirty to One—An + Undesirable Prisoner—The Gallows for Grettir—Thorbiorg Saves + Grettir—Grettir Conquers Himself_ + + +Now, after the slaying of Thorbiorn Oxmain, his kinsman Thorod took the +matter up, and rode to the great assize with a large train of men. + +The relatives of Grettir also appeared at the assize, and they took +advice of Skapti, the law-man; and he said that Atli was slain a week +before the sentence of outlawry was pronounced against Grettir, that +Thorbiorn Oxmain was guilty of that, and his relatives must pay a heavy +fine for the murder. But he said that Grettir was an outlaw when he +slew Thorbiorn. Now being an outlaw he was outside the cognizance of +the law, he was as one not a native of the country, as one over whom the +law had no longer jurisdiction; that, therefore, his slaying of +Thorbiorn could not count as expiation of the slaying of Atli; that, +moreover, no suit against an outlawed man could stand—it was illegal: +that the only way in which Grettir could be brought into court was by +the removal of the sentence of outlawry, when at once he could be +prosecuted. + +Thorod was disconcerted at this; for he could not bring an action +against Grettir, and the Biarg people did now bring an action against +him for the slaying of Atli, and the court gave sentence that he should +pay down two hundred ounces of silver as blood fine for Atli. + +Now, at this court, Snorri the judge proposed a compromise. He +suggested that the fine should be let drop, and that Grettir should be +held scatheless, that the outlawry should be set aside, and the slaying +of Thorbiorn be put against the slaying of Atli, and so reconciliation +be made. + +Thorod did not at all want to pay down two hundred ounces of silver, and +the Biarg family were very willing to have the outlawry done away with; +so both parties were quite willing to accept this compromise, but Thorir +of Garth had to be reckoned with. Grettir was outlawed at his suit for +the burning of his sons, and he must be brought to consent, or this +arrangement could not take place. + +But Thorir was not to be moved. In vain did the law-man Snorri urge +him, and represent to him that Grettir, at large, an outlaw, was a +danger menacing the country, that he was driven to desperation, Thorir +absolutely refused to allow the sentence to be withdrawn. Not only so, +but he said he would set a higher price on his head than had been set on +the head of any outlaw before, and that was three marks of silver. Then +Thorod, not to be behind with him, offered three more. + +Grettir resolved to get as much out of the way of his enemies as he +could, so he went into that strange excrescence, like a hand joined on +by a narrow wrist to Iceland, that extends to the north-west. In this +peninsula are two great masses of snow and glacier mountain, called +Glam-jokull and Drang-jokull. They do not rise to any great height, +hardly three thousand feet, but they are vast domes of snow, with +glaciers sliding from them to the firths, and these fall over the edges +of the precipitous cliffs in huge blocks of ice that float away on the +tide as icebergs. The largest of all the fiords that penetrates this +region is called the Ice-firth, and it runs between these great +mountains of snow and glaciers. At the extremity of the estuary the +valleys are well-wooded—that is to say, well-wooded for Iceland—with +birch-trees, for their valleys are very sheltered, and the sea-water +that roll in bears with it a certain amount of heat, for it has been +affected by the Gulf-stream. + +One of these valleys is called Waterdale, and at the time of our story +there lived there a man named Vermund the Slim, and his wife’s name was +Thorbiorg; she was a big, fine woman. Another valley is Lang-dale. +Grettir went to Lang-dale—there he demanded of the farmers whatever he +wanted, food and clothing, and if they would not give him what he asked, +he took it. This was not to their taste at all, and they wished that +they were rid of Grettir. He could not remain long in one place, so he +rode along the side of the Ice-firth demanding food, and sleeping and +concealing himself in the woods. So in his course he came to the upland +pastures and dairy that belonged to Vermund Slim, and he slept there +many nights, and hid about in the woods. + +The shepherds on the moors were afraid of him, and they ran down into +the valleys and told the farmers everywhere that there was a big strange +man on the heights, who took from them their curd and milk, and dried +fish, and that they were afraid to resist his demands. They did not +quite know what he was, whether a man or a mountain spirit. + +So the farmers gathered together and took advice, and there were about +thirty of them. They set a shepherd to watch Grettir’s movements, and +let them know when he could be fallen upon. Now, it fell out one warm +day that Grettir threw himself down in a sunny spot to sleep. The +glistening beech leaves were flickering behind him, the rocks were +covered with the pale lemon flowers of the dry as, and between the +clefts of the stones masses of large purple-flowered geranium stood up +and made a glow of colour deep into the wood. + +It is a mistake to suppose that Iceland is bare of flowers; on the +contrary, there are more flowers there than grass. Beneath Grettir the +turf was full of tiny deep-blue gentianellas, just as if the turf were +green velvet, with a thread of blue in it coming through here and there. + +The shepherd stole near enough to see that Grettir really was fast +asleep, and then he ran and told the bonders, who came noiselessly to +the spot. It was arranged among them that ten men should fling +themselves on him, whilst the others fastened his feet with strong +cords. + +They made a noose, and cautiously without waking him managed to get it +about his legs; then, all at once, ten of them threw themselves on his +body, and tried to pin down his arms. Grettir started from his sleep, +and with one toss sent the men rolling off him, and he even managed to +get to his knees. Then they pulled the noose tighter and brought him +down, he, however, kicked out at two, whom he tumbled head over heels, +and they lay stunned on the earth. Then one after another rushed at +him, some from behind. He could not get at his weapons, which they had +removed, and though he made a long and hard fight, and struggled +furiously, they were too many for him, and they overcame him in the end, +and bound his hands. + +Now, as he lay on the grass, powerless, they held a council over him +what should be done. The chief man of that district was Vermund Slim, +but he was from home. So it was settled that a farmer named Helgi +should take Grettir and keep him in ward till Vermund came home. + +"Thank you gratefully," said Helgi; "but I have other business to attend +to than to keep sentinel over this man. My hands are fully occupied +without this. Not if I know it shall he cross my threshold." + +So the farmers considered, and decided that another man who lived at +Giorvidale should have the custody of Grettir. + +"You are most obliging," said he; "but I have only my old woman with me +at home, and how can we two manage him? Lay on a man only such a burden +as he can bear." + +They considered again, and came to the conclusion that one Therolf of +Ere should have the charge of Grettir. + +But he replied, "No, thank you, I am short of provisions, there is +hardly food enough at my house for my own party." + +Then they appointed that he should be put with another farmer; but he +said, "If he had been taken in my land, well and good, but as he has +not, I won’t be encumbered with him." + +Then every farmer was tried, and all had excuses why they should not +have the care of Grettir; and consequently, as no one would have him, +they resolved to hang him. So they set to work and constructed a rude +gallows there in the wood, and a mighty clatter they made over it. + +Whilst thus engaged, it happened that Thorbiorg, Vermund’s wife, was +riding up to her mountain dairy, attended by five servants. She was a +stirring, clever woman, and when she saw so many men gathered together +and making such a noise, she rode towards them to inquire what they were +about. + +"Who is that lying in bonds there?" she asked. + +Then Grettir answered and gave his name. + +"Why, now, is it, Grettir," she said, "that you have given so much +trouble in this neighbourhood?" + +"I must needs be somewhere," he answered. "And wherever I am, there I +must have food." + +"It is a piece of ill-luck that you should have fallen into the hands of +these bumpkins," said she. Then turning to the farmers she asked what +they purposed doing with Grettir. + +"Hang him," answered they. + +"I do not deny that Grettir may have deserved the rope," said Thorbiorg; +"but I doubt if you are doing wisely in taking his life. He belongs to +a great family, and his death will not be to your quietness and content +if you kill him." Then she said to Grettir, "What will you do if your +life be given you?" + +"You propose the conditions," said he. + +"Very well, then you must swear not to revenge on these men what they +have done to you to-day, and not to do any violence more in the +Ice-firth." + +Grettir took the required oath, and so he was loosed from his bonds. He +said afterwards that never had he a harder thing to do than to control +his temper, when set free, and not to knock the farmers’ heads together +like nuts and crack them, for what they had done to him. + +Then Thorbiorg invited him to her house, and he went with her to the +Water-firth, and there abode till her husband returned, and when Vermund +heard all, then he was well pleased; and deemed that his wife had acted +with great prudence and kindness. He asked Grettir to remain there as +long as was consistent with his safety, and Grettir accepted his +hospitality, and continued there as his guest till late in the autumn, +when he went south to Learwood, where was Kuggson, with whom he purposed +spending the winter. However, he was not able to stay there, for it +soon became known where he was, and his enemies prepared to take him. +He accordingly left and went to a friend in another fiord, and remained +a short while with him, but was obliged for the same reason to fly +thence also; and so he spent the winter dodging about from place to +place, never able to remain long anywhere, because his enemies were so +resolved on his death, and were on the alert to fall on him wherever +they heard he was sheltering. + + + + + *CHAPTER XXVI.* + + *IN THE DESERT.* + + + _The Center of the Island—Ice, Desert, and Volcanoes—The + Bubble-Caves—A Dweller in the Desert—Grettir Stops the + Rider—Hall-mund Stronger than Grettir—Grettir Seeks Skapti’s + Advice—Grettir’s Night Fears—Grettir Builds a House_ + + +The island of Iceland is one-third larger than Ireland, but then the +population is entirely confined to the coast. All the centre of the +island is desert and mountain. One mighty mass of mountain covered with +eternal snow and ice occupies the south of the island and approaches the +sea very closely in the south-east. Much of this is unexplored; it has +of recent years been traversed once, across the great Vatna-jokull, but +there are passes west of the Vatna. The mountain masses are broken into +three main masses. The vast Vatna-jokull is to the east, then comes a +pass, and next the circular Arnafells-jokull, then another pass, and +lastly the jumble of snow mountains that form the Ball-jokull and the +Lang-jokull, the Goatland and the Erick’s-jokull. North of the +Vatna-jokull is a vast region, as large as a big county, covered with +lava broken up into bristling spikes and deep clefts of glass-like rock, +which no one can possibly get across. In the midst of it, inaccessible, +rise the cones of volcanoes that have poured forth this sea of molten +rock. East and west of this mighty tract of broken-up lava come +extensive moors also quite desert, covered with inky-black sand which +has been erupted by volcanoes, burying and destroying what vegetation +there was. The extent of desert may be understood when you learn that +there are twenty thousand square miles of country perfectly barren and +uninhabitable, and only partially explored. There are but four thousand +square miles in Iceland that are inhabited; the rest of the country is a +chaos of ice, desert, and volcanoes. The great lava region mentioned +north of the Vatna covers one thousand one hundred and sixty square +miles, and the Vatna envelopes three thousand five hundred square miles +in ice. Now, here and there in this vast region there are certain +sheltered spots where some grass grows, valleys that have escaped the +overflow of the molten rock, or the thrust of the glacier; and during +the ninety years that Iceland had been inhabited, every now and then a +churl who got tired of service, or a murderer afraid of his life, ran +away into the centre of the island, and lived a precarious existence on +the wild birds, their eggs, and on the fish that abounded in the +countless lakes. Probably also they stole sheep, and carried them away +to the mysterious recesses of the desert where they had made for +themselves homes. They lived chiefly in caverns, of which there are +plenty thus formed:—When the lava poured as a fiery stream out of the +volcanoes, in cooling great bubbles were formed in it, sometimes these +bubbles exploded, blew the fragments into the air, which fell back and +made a mass of broken bits of rock like an exploded soda-water bottle; +but all the bubbles did not burst, and such hardened when the rock +became cool. These bubbles remain as great domed halls, and some of +them run deep underground, forming a succession of chambers. I have +explored one where a band of outlaws once lived, and found numbers of +sheep-bones frozen up in ice in the place where, after they had eaten +the mutton, they threw away what they could not devour. At the end of +the cave they had erected a wall so as to inclose a space as a store +chamber. + +These men, living in the desert and rarely seen, were the subject of +many tales, and it was not clearly known who and what they really were, +whether altogether human, or half mountain-spirits. Imagination invested +them with supernatural powers. + +When spring came and the snows melted, then Grettir left the farmhouse +where he had been last in hiding, and went into the desert, to find food +and shelter for himself. + +One day he saw a man on horseback alone riding over a ridge of hill. He +was a very big man, and he led another horse that had bags of goods on +his back. The man wore a slouched hat so that his face could not +clearly be seen. + +Grettir looked hard at the horse and the goods on the pack-saddle, and +thought he would probably find some of these latter serviceable to him, +and in his need he was not particular how he got those things which he +wanted. So he went up to the rider and peremptorily ordered him to +stand and deliver. + +"Why should I give you things that are my own?" asked the stranger. "I +will sell some of my wares if you can pay for them." + +"I have no money," answered Grettir, "what I want I take. You must have +heard that by report." + +"Then I know with whom I have to deal; you are Grettir the outlaw, the +son of Asmund of Biarg." Thereat he struck spurs into his horse and +tried to ride past. + +"Nay, nay! We part not like this," said Grettir, and he laid his hands +on the reins of the horse the stranger rode. + +"You had better let go," said the mounted man. + +"Nay, that I will not," answered Grettir. + +Then the rider stooped and put his hands to the reins above those of +Grettir, between them and the bit, and he dragged them along, forcing +Grettir’s hands along the bridle to the end and then wrenched them out +of his grasp. + +Grettir looked at his palms and saw that the skin had been torn in the +struggle. Then he found out that he had met with a man who was stronger +than himself. + +"Give me your name," said he. "For, good faith! I have not encountered +a man like you." + +Then the horseman laughed and sang: + + "By the Caldron’s side + Away I ride, + Where the waters rush and fall + Adown the crystal glacier wall + There you will find a stone + Joined to a hand—alone." + + +This was a puzzling answer. The meaning was that he lived near a +waterfall that poured out of the Ice mountain, and that his name was +Hall-mund, _hall_ is a stone and _mund_ is the hand. + +Grettir and he parted good friends; and as he rode away Hall-mund called +out to Grettir that he would remember this meeting, and as it ended in +friendliness he hoped to do him a good turn yet,—that when every other +place of refuge failed he was to seek him "by the Caldron’s side, where +the waters rush and fall, adown the crystal glacier wall" under +Ball-jokull, and there he would give him shelter. + +After this Grettir went to the house of his friend the law-man Skapti, +and asked his advice, and whether he would house him for the ensuing +winter. + +"No, friend," answered Skapti, "you have been acting somewhat lawlessly, +laying hands on other men’s goods, and this ill becomes a well-born man +such as you. Now, it would be better for you not to rob and reive, but +get your living in other fashion, even though it were poorer fare you +got, and sometimes you had to go without food. I cannot house you, for +I am a law-man, and it would not be proper for me who lay down the law +to shelter such a notorious law-breaker as yourself. But I will give +you my advice what to do. To the north of the Erick’s-jokull is a +tangle of lakes and streams. The lakes have never been counted they are +in such quantities, and no one knows how to find his way among them. +These lakes are full of fish, and swarm with birds in summer. There is +also a little creeping willow growing in the sand, and some scanty +grass. It is only one hard day’s ride over the waste to Biarg, so that +your mother can supply you thence with those things of which you stand +in absolute need, as clothing, and you can fish and kill birds for your +subsistence, and will have no need to rob folk and exact food from the +bonders, thereby making yourself a common object of terror and dislike. +One more piece of advice I give you—Beware how you trust anyone to be +with you." + +Grettir thought this advice was good—only in one point was it hard for +him to follow. He was haunted with these fearful dreams at night which +followed the wrestle with Glam, and in the long darkness of winter the +dreadful eyes stared at him from every quarter whither he turned his, so +that it was unendurable for him to be alone in the dark. + +Still—he went. He followed up the White River to the desert strewn with +lakes from which that river flowed, and there found himself in utter +solitude and desolation. + +A good map of Iceland was made in 1844, and on that fifty-three lakes +are marked, but the smaller tarns were not all set down. In such a +tangle of water and moor Grettir might be in comparative security. He +settled himself on a spot of land that runs out into the waters of the +largest of the sheets of water, which goes by the name of the Great +Eagle Lake, and thereon he built himself a hovel of stones and turf, the +ruins of which remain to this day, and I have examined them. + + + + + *CHAPTER XXVII.* + + *ON THE GREAT EAGLE LAKE.* + + + _The Ruins of the Hut—Erick’s-jokull—A Craving for + Companionship—A Traitor—Grim Tries to Kill Grettir—Redbeard + Undertakes the Task—Redbeard’s Stratagem—A Base Fellow—Grettir + sinks to the Bottom—Caught in his own Trap—Grettir attacked by + Thorir—The Attack Baffled—The Guardian of Grettir’s Back—A + Summer with Hallmund_ + + +Grettir was settled now on the Great Eagle Lake. This lake is shaped +like the figure 8, only that the spot of land between the upper and +lower portion of the lake does not run quite across. On one side of this +spot the rock falls away precipitously into the water, whereas it slopes +on the other. If I had had a spade and pick, and if there had been more +grass on the moor so as to allow of a longer stay, I would have dug +about the foundations of Grettir’s hut, and, who can tell! I might +perhaps have found some relic of him. There is no record of anyone else +having inhabited it since he was there, and in the middle of the 13th +century, when the Saga of Grettir was committed to writing, there +remained the ruins of his hut, but no one lived at the place. Now there +is no human habitation for many miles; the lake was a day’s journey on +horseback from the nearest farm, where I had spent the night. You must +get some idea of the place where now for some years Grettir was to live. + +The moor is made up of rock split to fragments by the frost, and with +wide tracts between the ridges of rock strewn with black volcanic ash +and sand. It lies high; when I camped out there at the end of June, +there was no grass visible, only angelica shoots, and a little trailing +willow, so that my horses had to feed on these. The willow does not +rise above the surface of the ground, but its roots trail long distances +under the surface, groping for nutriment; and for fuel one has to dig +out these roots with one’s fingers, and employ those which are dryest. +Every dip in the moor is filled with a lake, and every lake has in it a +pair of swans; in addition there are abundance of other wild fowl, and +on the moor are ptarmigan that live on the flowers of the whortle or +blae-berry. + +Above the rolling horizon of moor, to the south rises the great snowy +dome of Erick’s-jokull. This is in reality a huge volcano, with +precipitous sides of black lava towering up like an immense giant’s +castle. The great crater has been choked up with the snow of centuries, +and the snow in falling had piled up a vast cupola of snow and ice +standing high above the black walls, and sliding and falling over the +edges in a succession of avalanches. When, at eleven o’clock at night, +I looked out of my tent at Erick’s-jokull, the scene was sublime. The +sun had just gone under the northern horizon of snow and hill, but shone +on the great dome of Erick’s-jokull, turning it to the purest and most +delicate rose colour, and the walls of upright basalt that sustained the +dome were of the purple of a plum. Grettir obtained nets and a boat +from home, and such things as he wanted for his hut. One great +advantage of his present situation was that three different roads or +rather tracks led to it from Biarg, so that those who wanted to come to +him from home could select their way and avoid observation, till they +got among the lakes, when they were in a labyrinth in which anyone might +easily be lost, and any one could escape a pursuer. It is true that it +was a long and arduous day’s ride from Biarg to the Eagle Lake, but the +whole of the course along each of the ways lay through uninhabited land. + +Now, when other outlaws heard that Grettir was on the Eagle Lake Heath, +they had a mind to join themselves to him, and Grettir was not unwilling +to have a companion, so lonely did he feel on this waste, and also so +fearful was he of being by himself in the dark. + +There was a man called Grim, who was an outlaw; and Grettir’s enemies +made a bargain with him, that he should go to the Eagle Lake Heath, +pretend to be friends with Grettir, seek opportunity, and kill him. They +on their side undertook, if he would do this, to get his sentence of +outlawry reversed, and to furnish him liberally with money. + +Accordingly he went to the moor, and after some trouble, found Grettir, +and asked if he might live with him. + +Grettir replied, "I do not much relish such company as yours, for you +have got into outlawry through very infamous deeds. I mistrust you; +nevertheless I will suffer you to remain if you work hard and be +obedient. I do not want idle hands here." + +Grim said he was willing, and prayed hard that he might dwell there, and +carried his point. He remained with Grettir the whole of the winter; +there was not much friendship between them. Grettir mistrusted him all +along, and was never parted from his weapons, night or day, and Grim did +not venture to attack him whilst he was awake. + +But one morning, when Grim came in from fishing, he went into the hut +and stamped his foot and made a noise, seeing that Grettir lay in his +bed asleep; and he was desirous to know how soundly he slept. Grettir +did not start and open his eyes, but lay quite still. Then Grim made +more noise, thinking that if Grettir were awake he would chide him; but +Grettir made no motion. Then Grim made sure that he was fast asleep, +and he stepped to his side. Now, the short sword that had been taken +out of the barrow of Karr the Old hung above the bed-head. Grim leaned +over Grettir and laid hold of the sword, and put both hands to it to +draw it out of the sheath. At that instant Grettir started up, caught +Grim round the waist and flung him backwards so that he was stunned, and +the sword fell from his hand. So Grettir made him confess that he had +been bribed to set on him and murder him. And then Grettir would have +no more of him, and resolved to live entirely alone. Yet—directly he +was alone, his dreams, and his horror of the dark, returned on him. Now, +Thorir of Garth heard of an outlaw named Thorir Redbeard, a very big +man, who for murder had been outlawed, and was therefore in hiding +somewhere. Thorir of Garth sent out messengers in search of him, and at +last brought about a meeting, and then he offered him a great deal of +money if he would kill Grettir. Redbeard said it was no easy task, for +that Grettir was wise and wary. + +"It is because it is no easy task that I set you to do it," said Thorir +of Garth. "You are no milksop to do easy jobs." + +This flattered Redbeard, and he undertook to do what was required. He +came out on the Eagle Lake Heath in the autumn after that winter when +Grim had been with Grettir and made the attempt on his life. Grettir +was feeling uneasy and troubled, as the days grew shorter, with the eyes +that he thought stared at him from every quarter, and although his +judgment prompted him to refuse hospitality to Redbeard, yet his dread +of being alone in the dark induced him to disregard his doubts. So he +reluctantly admitted Redbeard to be an inmate of his cot. + +"Now, mind this," said Grettir. "I let a man be with me here last +winter, and he lay wait for my life. If I find that you are false, then +I shall not spare you." + +Redbeard said he wished for nothing else; and so Grettir received him, +and found him to be a very powerful man, and so energetic that he was of +the greatest assistance to Grettir. + +Redbeard was with him all that winter (1019-1020) and found no occasion +on which he could take Grettir unawares. Then set in the next winter +1020-1021, and Redbeard had begun to loathe his life on the heath, and +no wonder, for he saw no one save Grettir; the cold and desolation of +the spot was surpassingly wretched. Now he became impatient to kill +Grettir and get away. + +One night a great storm broke over the moor whilst he and Grettir were +asleep. The roar of the wind woke Redbeard and he ran outside the hut, +down to the water-side, and with a huge stone he smashed the +fishing-boat, so that it sank; and the oars and bits he had broken off +he threw away into the lake. So did he with the nets. + +When he came in Grettir was awake also, and he asked how fared the boat. + +"She has broken from her mooring," answered Redbeard, "and has been +dashed to bits on the rocks." + +Then Grettir jumped up, and taking his weapons ran out to the end of the +spit of land on which his hut was built, and saw how the nets were +drifting in the waves and were entangled with the oars. + +"Jump in, swim out, and bring them to shore," said he to Redbeard. The +man shook his head and answered: + +"I can do anything save swim. I have not held back from any other work +you have set me, but swim I cannot." + +Then Grettir laid his weapons down by the waterside and prepared to jump +in. But he mistrusted Redbeard, so he said, "I will get in the nets, as +you cannot; but I trust you will not deal treacherously by me." + +Redbeard answered, "I should be a base fellow and unworthy to live if I +were false to you now—after you have housed me so long." + +Then Grettir put off his clothes, and went into the water, and swam out +to the nets. + +He swept them up together and brought them towards the land, and cast +them up on the bank; but the moment he attempted to land Redbeard caught +up the short sword, drew it hastily and ran at Grettir and smote at him, +just as he was heaving himself up out of the water. The blade would +have cut into his neck, or between his shoulder-blades, had not Grettir +instantly let go, and fallen backwards into the water and sunk like a +stone. Sinking thus headlong he reached the bottom, and instead of +rising to the surface again he clung to the rocks under water, and +groped his way along as close as he could to the bank, so that Redbeard +might not see him till he had reached the back of the creek and got +aland. + +Now, Redbeard stood at the end of the promontory, looking into the +water, much puzzled. He had not cut Grettir with the sword, and yet +Grettir was gone down, and did not rise. He thought he must have struck +his head against a stone, and so have sunk, and he looked out into the +water wondering where and when he would rise. Meanwhile Grettir had +come ashore behind him and was approaching stealthily. Redbeard was +unaware of his danger till Grettir had his arms about him, had heaved +him over his head and dashed him down on the rocks, so that his skull +was broken. After that Grettir resolved not to take another outlaw into +his house, though he could hardly endure to be alone. + +Thorir of Garth did not hear of the death of Redbeard till next summer +at the great assize; and then he was so angry, and so resolved to make +an end of Grettir, that he collected a body of resolute men, his +servants and others whom he hired for the purpose, to the number of +nearly eighty, to sweep the Eagle Lake Heath and take and kill Grettir. + +One day, when Grettir was out on the moor, he saw a large body of armed +men riding towards the lake. He had time to fly to a hill that rises at +a little distance, where there is a rift in the rock that traverses the +top of the hill. When I read the account in the saga I could not quite +understand what follows, but no sooner was I on the spot than all +appeared quite clear. One could see, at once, that Grettir, taken by +surprise, would run to this very spot and no other. It was the nearest +available place of vantage, with stone and crag. The situation was not +the best that might have been chosen, as it left Grettir’s back +unprotected; however, he had no time to seek a better. + +[Illustration: GRETTIR ATTACKED IN THE RIFT BY THORIR’S PARTY.] + +Thorir came with his men to the bottom of the hill, and shouted to +Grettir and taunted him. + +Grettir replied, "Though you may have put the spoon to your lips you +have not swallowed the broth." + +Then Thorir egged on his men to go up the slope at Grettir, but this was +not easy. It was steep, and the rocks were close on either side so that +Grettir could not be surrounded. Only one man could get at him from +before at once. Several attempts were made, but all failed; some of the +assailants were killed, some wounded. Then Thorir broke up his party +into two, and sent one detachment round to the back of the rocks, to +fall on Grettir from behind. Grettir saw the manoeuvre, and did not see +how to meet it. All he could do would be to sell his life dearly. He +could not hold out long when assailed simultaneously from before and +behind. + +Thorir bade the attack slacken till he thought those sent to the rear +would be ready, and then he ordered a grand, and, as he believed, a +combined assault. Grettir fought with desperation, expecting every +moment to be cut down from behind, but to his surprise and that of +Thorir he was left unmolested in the rear. + +Thorir called off his men, and went round the hill to inquire why the +attack from behind had not taken place. To his amazement he came on a +discomfited party bleeding, faint, and baffled, and to find that twelve +men had fallen in it.[#] + + +[#] At the time, or rather shortly after I had been on the spot, I +wrote, "There is a nook like a sentry-box in the side of the cleft, and +it was in this that Hallmund ensconced himself, so that he could hew +down anyone who attempted to pass through this cleft to get at Grettir’s +back, whilst remaining himself screened from observation. I could not +understand the saga account before I saw the spot, and how it was that +those attacking Grettir from behind did not see Hallmund. The sight of +the place made all plain." + + +Then he bade a retreat. "Oft," he said, "have I heard that Grettir is a +man of marvel for prowess, but I never knew before that he was a wizard, +and able to kill as many at his back as he does in front of him." + +When he numbered his men, Thorir found that he had lost eighteen. Then +he and his retinue rode away, and they carried on them many and grievous +wounds. + +Now Grettir was no less perplexed with the event than was Thorir, and +when the latter had withdrawn he went through the rift in the rocks to +see why he had not been fallen on from the rear,—and he lighted on a +tall strong man leaning against the rocks, sore wounded. + +Grettir asked his name, and the tall man replied that he was Hallmund. + +"Do you remember meeting me on the heath one day?" asked the wounded +man, "when you tried to stop my horse, and I pulled the reins through +your hands so as to skin the palms’? Then I promised if I had the +chance to back you up." + +"Indeed," said Grettir, much moved, "I remember that right well, and now +I thank you with all my heart, for this day you have saved my life." + +Then Hallmund said, "You must now come with me, for time must drag with +you solitary here on the heath." + +Grettir said he was glad to accept the offer; so they went together +south to the Ball-jokull, and there Hallmund had a great cave, and his +daughter, a big muscular girl, lived there with him; there the girl +applied plasters to the wounds of her father and healed him. + +Grettir remained with them in the cave all the ensuing summer. But when +summer came to an end, he wearied of being so long in the desert, and +longed to see and be with his fellow-men in inhabited parts once more; +so he bade farewell to Hallmund, and went away to the west to Hit-dale +that opens on the Marshland, through which six or seven large rivers +flow. Here he had a friend named Biorn living at Holm. + + + + + *CHAPTER XXVIII.* + + *ON THE FELL.* + + + _The Hollow of Fairwood Fell—Above the Shale Slide—The Outlaw’s + Lair—The Boaster—A Dandified Warrior—Hunter and Hunted—A + Skin-dressing—Sadder and Wiser_ + + +Biorn when asked by Grettir to give him shelter declined to do so, not +that the will was lacking, but that he had not the power to protect him. +"You have made," he said, "enemies on all sides, and if I were to take +you under my roof all your enemies would become mine also, and I would +be involved in endless and bitter quarrels. I cannot give you direct +assistance and shelter, but indirectly I will do what I can for you. +There is a long hill, called Fairwood Fell, that runs in front of my +house on the other side of the river, and ends just above the marshes. +Now, in one place there is a steep shale slide, and above this is a +hollow through the mountain, that might very well be made into a dry and +comfortable place of abode. From the entrance every one who passes +along the highway, all who come across the marshes, can be seen. I can +supply you with a few necessaries to fit the place up, but when there +you must shift for yourself. I must not risk too much by supporting +you." + +Grettir consented to this. So he went up to Fairwood Fell and built up +the cave, and hung gray wadmal before the entrance, so that no one below +could notice that there was anything peculiar or anyone living there. +In this eagle’s nest among the rocks Grettir spent the time from the +autumn of 1022 to the spring of 1024, that is, two winters. Whatever +fuel he wanted, all he had to eat, everything he wanted, had to be +carried up this slippery and steep ascent by him. Down the shale slide +he came when short of provisions, and went over the marshes to this or +that farm and demanded or carried off, sometimes a sheep, sometimes +curds, dried fish, in a word what he required; and a very great nuisance +the men of the district found him. Heartily did they wish they were rid +of him, yet they could not drive him from his place of abode, for it was +so difficult of access and so easy of defence. + +Now, some years ago, in the summer of 1862, the year after I was in +Iceland, a very similar lair which Grettir inhabited a little later in +the east of Iceland was explored by an Icelandic farmer. This is his +description of it: "The lair stands in the lower part of a slip of +stones beneath some sheer rocks. It is built up of stones, straight as a +line 4-3/4 ells long and 10 inches wide, and is within the walls 7/8 of +an ell deep. Half of it is roofed over with flat stones, small thin +splinters of stone are wedged in between these to fill up the joints, +and these are so firmly fixed that they could not be removed without +tools. One stone in the south wall is so large that it requires six men +to move it. The north wall is beginning to give way. On the outside +the walls are overgrown with black lichen and gray moss." + +Something like this was the den of Grettir on the Fairwood Fell, but it +was less built up, as he had the natural rock for two of the sides and +for the roof. + +Whilst Grettir was there, there came a ship into harbour, in which was a +man named Gisli, a merchant, very fond of wearing smart clothes, and an +inordinately vain man. He heard the farmers talking about Grettir, and +what a vexation it was to them to have him in their neighbourhood. + +"Don’t talk to me about Grettir," said Gisli; "I’ve had battles with +harder men than he. I hope he may came in my way, that I may dress his +skin for him." + +The farmer to whom he said this shook his head. "You don’t know of whom +you are speaking. If you were to kill him you would be well off,—six +marks of silver were set on his head, and Thorir of Garth has added +three more, so that there stand on him nine marks of silver." + +"All things can be done for money," said Gisli; "and as I am a merchant +I’ll see to it. And when we meet—I’ll dress his skin for him." + +The farmer said it would be well not to talk about the matter. Gisli +agreed. "I will abide this winter in Snowfell-ness," he said. "If his +lair is on my road thither I’ll look out for him, and dress his skin as +I go along." + +Now, whether he talked in spite of the caution given him, or whether +some one overheard what he said, who was a friend of Biorn of Holm, is +uncertain. Any how Gisli’s threat reached the ears of Biorn, who at +once warned Grettir to be on his guard against the merchant. + +"If he comes your way," said Biorn, "teach him a lesson; but don’t kill +him." + +"No," said Grettir with a grim smile, "I’ll merely dress his skin for +him." + +Now it happened one day that Grettir was looking out of the entrance to +his lair, when he saw a man with two attendants riding along the +highway. His kirtle was of scarlet, and his helmet and shield flashed +in the sun. Then it occurred to him that this must be the dandified +Gisli, of whom he had heard, so he came running down the shale descent +to the road. He reached the man, and at once he went to his horse, +clapped his hand on a bundle of clothes behind the saddle, and said, +"This I am going to take." + +"Nay, not so," answered Gisli, for it was he. "You do not know whom you +are addressing." + +"Nor do I care," said Grettir. "I have little respect for persons. I +am in poor and lowly condition myself, so low that I am driven to be a +highway robber." + +Then Gisli drew his sword, and called to his men to attack Grettir, who +gave way a little before them. But he soon saw that Gisli kept behind +his servants, and never risked himself where the blows fell; so Grettir +put the two churls aside with well-dealt strokes, and went direct upon +the merchant, who, seeing that he was menaced, turned and took to his +heels. Grettir pursued him, and Gisli in his fear cast aside his +shield, then, a little further, threw away his helmet, and so as he ran +he cast away one thing after another that he had with him. There was a +heavy purse of silver at his girdle. This encumbered him, and as he ran +he unbuckled his belt and dropped it and the purse with it. Grettir did +not purposely come up with him; he could have outstripped him had he +willed, but he let the fellow run a couple of horse lengths before him. +The end of the Fell is above an old lava bed that has flowed from a +crater called Eldborg or the Castle of Fire, and like an old ruined +castle it looks. Gisli ran over this lava bed, jumping the cracks, then +dived through a wood of birch that intervened between the lava and the +river Haf. The stream was swollen with ice, and ill to ford. Gisli +halted hesitating before plunging in, and that allowed Grettir to run in +on him, seize him and throw him down. + +"Are you the Gisli who were so eager to meet Grettir Asmund’s son?" +asked the outlaw. + +"I have had enough of him," gasped the fallen man. "Keep my saddle-bags +and what I have thrown away, and let me go free." + +"Hardly yet," said Grettir grimly. "I think something was said about +skin-dressing, that is not to be overlooked." + +Then Grettir drew him back to the wood, took a good handful of birch +rods, pulled Gisli’s clothes up over his head, and laid the twigs +against his back in none of the gentlest fashion. Gisli danced and +skipped about, but Grettir had him by his garments twisted about his +head and neck, and continued to flog till the poor fellow threw himself +down on the ground screaming. Then Grettir let go, and went quietly +back to his lair, picking up as he went the purse and the belt, the +shield, casque, and whatever else Gisli had thrown away, also he had the +contents of his saddle-bags. + +Gisli never came back to Fairwood Fell to ask for them. When he got on +his legs he ran up the river to where it was not so dangerous, swam it, +and reached a farmhouse, where he entreated to be taken in. There he +lay a week with his body swollen and striped; after which he went home, +and much was he laughed at for his adventure with Grettir. + + + + + *CHAPTER XXIX.* + + *THE FIGHT ON THE RIVER.* + + + _Angry Farmers—A Large Band of Men—The Marshmen are Driven + Back—The Attacking Party Reinforced—Fighting in + Desperation—Wearied but Unwounded—The Song of Victory_ + + +Now, whilst Grettir was on Fairwood Fell, favoured by Biorn of Hit-dale, +his presence after a while became unendurable to the bonders who lived +in the marshes. He had been for two winters in his den on the hill, and +when they saw that he intended to remain there a third winter, and rob +them of sheep and whatever he needed, then they took counsel together +how they might rid themselves of the annoyance. + +One day in the winter of 1023, Grettir came down from his place of +vantage, and went over the marshes to a farm called Acres, and drove +away from it two bullocks fit for slaughtering, and several sheep, and +he had got on with them some way over the marshes, on his way to his +lair, before the farmer at Acres was aware of his loss; he had taken six +wethers beside from another farm named Brookbend. This angered the +farmers greatly, and they sent a message to the chief man of the +district, Thord at Hitness, and urged him to waylay Grettir before he +could reach his den. Thord shrank from doing anything; however, they +pressed him so much that at last he consented to let his son Arnor go +with them. Then messengers were sent throughout all the country side, +to every farmer who was concerned. And it was so planned that two +bodies of men should march to the taking of Grettir, one on the right, +the other on the left bank of the Hit River, so as to take him for +certain. + +Grettir was soon aware that the country was roused. He was not alone, +he had two men with him—one the son of the farmer at Fairwood Fell, with +whom he was on good terms, the other a farm-servant. They advised him to +desert the cattle and sheep and run for it, cross the river and take +refuge in his place of vantage; but this Grettir was too proud to do. + +Presently he could see coming on behind him a large band of men, about +twenty in all, under Thorarin of Acres and Thorfin of Brookbend. Now, +as these were pursuing him over the marshes, up the opposite side of the +river came Arnor, the son of Thord of Hitness, and with him a farmer +named Biarni of Jorvi. + +Grettir managed to reach the river before his enemies came up with him, +and he had also time to secure a place of vantage. This was a ness of +rock that ran out into the river, or round which the river swept, so +that he was protected by the water on all sides but one. Grettir said +to the two men with him, that they must guard his back, see that none +came up the sides in his rear, and then he took his short-sword in both +his hands, planted his feet wide apart on the rock, and prepared to sell +his life dear. + +The party headed by Thorarin of Acres and Thorfin of Brookbend came up, +twenty in all,—but more were coming, for Thorarin had begun the pursuit +before all the farmers were collected, and he knew that a body of some +twenty or thirty more would arrive before long. Thorarin himself was an +old man, and he did not enter into the fray, but urged on his men. + +The fight was hard. Grettir was not easily reached where he stood, and +he smote at all who approached. Some of the Marshmen fell, and several +were wounded. In vain did they attempt to dislodge him by combined +rushes, he drove them over the edge into the water, or cut them down +with his sword. At last his arm was weary, and he called to the +farmer’s son to step into his place. He did so, and held the ground +valiantly, whilst Grettir rested. Then the party drew back, +discomfited. At that moment up came the fresh body of men under Thrand, +the brother of Thorarin of Acres, and Stonewolf of Lavadale. These +egged on their men eagerly, and they thought they would obtain an easy +victory, for Grettir had been fighting for some time, and was weary. + +Then Thorarin of Acres called out and advised delay. + +"For," said he, "the third party of men under Arnor and Biarni of Jorvi +have not come up on the other side of the river." + +This piece of advice was rejected by the newcomers. What did they want +with more men? They were a large party, fresh and untired, and Grettir +had but two men with him, and they were wearied with fighting. So the +signal was given for the onslaught. + +Then Grettir saw that he must either jump into the river, swim across, +and desert the sheep and bullocks he had driven there, or use almost +superhuman exertions to defend himself. + +His position was, indeed, desperate; for, even if he did hold his own +against this second body of men, a third was on its way up the other +bank of the river to intercept him on his way up to the Fell. For one +moment he hesitated, and then was resolved. No, he would not run. He +would die there, and die only after having strewn the ground with his +foes. Foremost among his assailants was Stonewolf of Lavadale, and +Grettir made a sudden rush at him, and with a tremendous stroke of his +sword he clove his head down to the shoulders. Thrand, who sprang +forward to avenge him, Grettir struck on the thigh, and the blow took +off all the muscle, and he fell, crippled for life. Then Grettir fell +back to his place of safety, and dared others to come on. They sprang +out on the neck of rock, but would not meet his weapon, one after +another fell or was beaten back. + +Then Thorarin cried out, and bade all draw off. + +"The longer ye fight," said he, "the worse ye fare. He picks out what +men among you he chooses." + +The party withdrew, and there were ten men fallen, and five had received +mortal wounds, or were crippled; and hardly one of the two parties was +without some hurt or other. + +Grettir, moreover, was marvellously wearied, but had received no wounds +to speak of. + +Now, hardly had the men withdrawn, carrying their dead and wounded, than +up came the third detachment under Arnor and Biarni, on the other side +of the river. There can be no question but that, had they crossed and +fallen on Grettir, he could not have defended himself longer, so +overcome was he with weariness; but Arnor knew that his father had +entered on the matter reluctantly, and he was discouraged by the +ill-success of the other companies. Consequently, he neither waded +through the river at the ford, a little higher, nor did he maintain his +ground and cut off Grettir’s retreat. Instead, he withdrew with all his +men, and left Grettir to recover his strength, and cross and escape to +the Fell. This conduct of Arnor provoked much comment; and he was +accused of cowardice, an accusation that clung to him through life. +Even his father rebuked him, for the father saw what discredit he had +brought upon himself. + +The point on the river Hit where this affray took place is still shown; +and is called Grettir’s-point to this day. + +When the fight was over Grettir and the two men went to the Fell, and as +they passed the farm the farmer’s daughter came out of the door, and +asked for tidings. + +Then Grettir sang:— + + "Brewer of strong barley-corn, + Pourer forth of drinking-horn, + Lo! to-day the Stonewolf fell, + Ne’er again his head be well. + Many more have got their bane, + Many in their blood lie slain; + Little life has Thorgils now, + After that bone-breaking blow. + Eight upon the river’s bank + In their gore expiring sank." + + + + + *CHAPTER XXX.* + + *A MYSTERIOUS VALE.* + + + _The Dome of Snow—Cold Dale—A Fair Valley—The Mottled Ewe—With + Thorir and his Daughters—The Stone on Broad-shield—Thorir’s + Cave_ + + +In the spring of 1024 Grettir went away from Fairwood Fell; for he had +been there so long, and had preyed for such a time on the bonders of the +marshes, that he himself saw that it would be best for him to remove +into quite another part of the island. So he visited his friend +Hallmund once more, under the ice of Ball-jokull, and Hallmund advised +him where to go. He could not give him hospitality himself that winter, +because his stock of goods was run so short that it would hardly suffice +for his daughter and himself; but he told him of a valley unknown to +anyone, save a friend of his called Thorir and himself. And he informed +him how it was to be reached. + +Now, as already said, there are passes in Iceland between the several +blocks of ice mountains, and such a pass exists between Goatland-jokull +and a curious domed snowy mountain called Ok. The pass is called the +Cold Dale, because it lies for many hours ride between ice mountains, +and under the precipitous Goatland-jokull, whose rocks are crowned with +green ice that falls over incessantly in great avalanches. It is seven +hours’ ride from one blade of grass to another through that dale. I +went through it on midsummer-day, and saw the bones of horses lying +about that had died unable to get through; perhaps becoming lame or +exhausted on the way. + +Half through this long trough of the Cold Dale stands up a buttress of +rock, or rather a sort of ness, projecting from Goatland-jokull, so +precipitous that hardly any snow rests on it, and this is called the +Half-way Fell. + +Now, Hallmund told Grettir he must go through the Cold Dale till he +reached the Half-way Fell, and there he must strike up over the snow and +glaciers of Goatland-jokull, due south, and he would all at once drop +into a valley known to few. + +So Grettir went up the moor till he struck the White River, that flowed +out of the Eagle Lakes he knew so well, and under the cliffs and icy +crown of Erick’s-jokull, then he climbed over broken trachyte rocks for +several hundreds of feet, till he found himself in the Cold Dale, and +along that he trudged till he had reached Half-way Fell, standing up +like a wall as though to stop the pass. There he turned to the left, +and as at this point Goatland is no longer precipitous, but slopes in a +series of steps to the Cold Dale, he climbed up through the snow, a long +and tedious ascent, till he stood on the neck of the mountain, and there +he saw that the snow slopes fell away rapidly to the south, and he +descended and soon beheld before him a valley in which were a great many +boiling springs that threw up clouds of steam, and he saw also, what +greatly pleased him, that there was rich and abundant grass in this +valley. This is what the saga says: "The dale was long and somewhat +narrow, locked up by glaciers all round, in such a manner that the ice +walls overhung the dale. He scrambled down into it, as best he could, +and there he saw fair hillsides grass-grown and set with bushes. Hot +springs were there, and it appeared to him that it was the earth-fires +which prevented the ice walls from closing in on the valley. A little +river ran down the dale, with level banks. The sun rarely shone into +the valley; but the number of sheep there could hardly be reckoned, they +were so many; and nowhere had he seen any so fat and in such good +condition." + +Grettir did not see Thorir, Hallmund’s friend, at first; so he built +himself a hut of such wood as he could get, and with turf. He killed +the sheep he wanted, and found that there was more meat on one of them +than on two elsewhere. + +The Saga says:— + +"There was one ewe there, brown mottled, with a lamb, and she was a +beauty. Grettir killed the lamb, and took three stone of suet off it, +the meat was some of the best he had ever eaten. But when the mottled +ewe missed her lamb, she went up on Grettir’s hut every night, and +bleated so plaintively as to trouble his sleep, and made Grettir quite +troubled that he had killed her lamb." + +Now Grettir noticed that at evening the sheep ran in one direction, and +once or twice he heard a call; so he went after the sheep one evening, +and was led by them to the hut where Thorir dwelt. He was a strange +man, who had spent so many years away from the society of his fellow-men +as not to care any more to meet them, so he did not welcome Grettir very +warmly. However he had three daughters, and they were glad to have +someone to talk to, and as the winter crept on Thorir himself became +more amiable, and so the winter did not pass as drearily as Grettir had +feared it would. He sang his songs and related stories, and the party +played draughts with knuckle-bones of sheep. + +When spring came, however, he was fain to go; and he did not leave by +the way he came, but followed the little river, and it led him out +between rock and glaciers into a piece of desert, covered with lava beds +that have poured out of a volcano, or rather two that stand opposite +this entrance to Thorir’s valley. These two volcanoes are quite unlike +each other, though side by side, one, called Hlothu-fell has upright +walls, like Erick’s-jokull, and a crater filled up and brimming over +with ice; but the other Skialdbreith, or the Broad-shield, is like a +conical round silver shield laid on the ground. The entrance to Thorir’s +Dale is completely hidden by a round snowy mountain that blocks it, and +then a second snowy mountain stands further out in front of the opening, +so that not a sign of any valley can be seen from anywhere. + +So difficult did Grettir think it would be to find it, that he ascended +on Broad-shield and set up a stone there with a hole in it, so that +anyone looking through this hole would see directly into the narrow +entrance of Thorir’s Dale. This stone still stands where Grettir had +placed it; but has sunk on one side, so that by looking through the hole +the eye is no longer directed to the entrance. + +No one had ever visited Thorir’s Dale since Grettir left it till the +year 1654, when it was explored by two Icelandic clergymen, and an +account of their expedition in Icelandic is to be found in the British +Museum.[#] The valley as far as I know has not been explored since. It +is marked on the map of Iceland, but apparently from the description +left by the two clergymen, not from any visit made to it by the +map-maker. + + +[#] I have given a translation of it in my _Curiosities of Olden Times_, +London, Hayes, 1869. + + +When the two men visited the valley they went to it in the same way as +did Grettir. They found no hot springs, and the valley was utterly +barren; but then they had no time to descend it, they only looked down +on it from above. They found the cave with a door, and a window to it, +which was probably the habitation of Thorir and his daughters. + + + + + *CHAPTER XXXI.* + + *THE DEATH OF HALLMUND.* + + + _Grim’s Fish Disappear—The Thief Wounded and Tracked—Death of + Hallmund_ + + +Now, there was a man called Grim, who was an outlaw for his ill-deeds, +and he thought that as Grettir no longer abode in his hut on the Eagle +Lake, he might go there and occupy it. This did not please Hallmund, +for Grettir had left him his nets, and he was wont to fish in the lake. + +Grim had supplied himself with nets, and he one day caught a hundred +char, large red-fleshed fish, delicious eating; so he piled them up +outside his hut. Next morning to his great surprise all his char had +disappeared. Then he went fishing again, and caught even more fish, and +he brought them to land, and heaped them up as before. + +Next morning they also had disappeared. + +He could not understand it; so he fished again, and had on this occasion +extraordinary luck: he must have netted nearly three hundred fish. He +brought them home, and put them in the same place as before; but he did +not go to sleep this time: he remained within, and watched his store +through a peep-hole in the door. + +During the night he heard someone who trod heavily coming along the +ness, and then he saw a man picking up his fish, and putting them into a +basket he had on his back. Grim watched till he had filled the basket, +which he now heaved upon his shoulders. Instantly Grim threw open the +door, rushed out, and whilst the man was still stooping adjusting his +load, he swung up a very sharp axe he held, holding it in both hands, +and smote at the man’s neck. The axe hit the basket, and that somewhat +broke its force, but it glanced aside and sank into the shoulder. Then +the man started aside, and set off running with the basket to the south, +skirting a lava field that had flowed out of Erick’s-jokull, and which +now goes by the name of Hallmund’s Lava-bed. + +Grim ran after him, and saw that he was making for Ball-jokull; but the +man, who was of great size and strength, though wounded and losing +blood, ran on, and did not stay till he reached a cave in the face of +the cliff, above which was the ice, and with long icicles hanging over +the front. Into this he entered. There was a fire burning inside, and +a young woman sitting by it. + +Grim heard her welcome the man, and call him her father, and name him +Hallmund. He cast his basket of fish down, and groaned aloud. + +Then the girl saw that blood was flowing from him, and she asked him +what had happened. + +Hallmund told what had befallen him, and said that he was wounded to the +death, and that he trusted Grettir would avenge him, for he had no other +friend to do so. + +After that Hallmund began a lay, and sang the history of his life, the +achievements he had wrought, and he sang on till his breath failed, and +either he was unable to finish his lay, or Grim could not remember all +of it. A good deal, however, of Hallmund’s death-song has been retained +and is given in the saga. + +But Hallmund’s hope or expectation that Grettir would avenge him was +disappointed, for Grim managed to get away from Iceland, and did not +return to it again during the lifetime of Grettir. + + + + + *CHAPTER XXXII.* + + *OF ANOTHER ATTEMPT AGAINST GRETTIR.* + + + _Thorir raises a Party against Grettir—Grettir plays the + Herdsman—A Daring Trick—Thorir a Laughing-Stock_ + + +Now, during the summer, tidings came to Thorir of Garth that Grettir was +somewhere about on Reekheath in the north-east. There was his lair +which was examined a few years ago, and which remains in tolerable +condition, as already mentioned when his lair at Fairwood Fell was +described. Now, Thorir of Garth, when he got this tidings was resolved +to make another attempt to kill him; and no wonder, for with singular +audacity Grettir had come into his neighbourhood. Grettir no doubt +thought that he had preyed long enough on men who had not harmed him, +and that now he would prey on the goods and cattle of the man who had +made an outlaw of him, and who pursued him with such remorseless +hostility. Thorir gathered a number of men together and went in pursuit +of Grettir. Grettir was not at that time in his den but out on the moor, +and he was near a mountain-dairy that stood back somewhat from the +wayside, and there was another man with him, when they spied the party +of Thorir, all armed, coming along. They had not been observed, so they +hastily led their horses into the shed attached to the dairy, and +concealed themselves. Thorir came along, went to the dairy, looked +about to see if anyone were there who could inform him if Grettir had +been seen, noticed only a couple of horses tied up, but supposed they +belonged to the farmer whose summer dairy this was, and, without looking +further, went on. + +As soon as Thorir and his band had gone out of sight, Grettir crept from +his place of hiding, and said to his companion: + +"It is a pity they should have come such a ride to see me, and should be +disappointed. You watch the horses, and I will go on and have a word +with them." + +"You surely will not be so rash?" exclaimed the other man. + +"I cannot let them come all this way without exchanging words with me," +said Grettir, and leaving the horses under the care of his comrade, he +strode away over the moor to a place where he was sure he could be +observed. Now, Grettir had a slouched hat on and a long staff in his +hand, and at the dairy he had found some clothes belonging to the +herdsman usually there, and these he had put on. + +Directly Thorir and his party saw a man with a staff striding about on +the moor they rode to him. None of them knew Grettir’s face, for, +indeed, they had not been given the chance. So they thought this great +rough man was the herdsman, and they asked him if he had seen the outlaw +Grettir. + +"What sort of man is he?" asked Grettir. "Is he armed?" + +"Armed indeed is he, with a casque on his head, a long sword, and also a +short one in his girdle." + +"Is he riding?" + +"Most certainly he is." + +"Then," said Grettir, "you had better get you along after him due south; +he has gone that way not so long agone." + +When they heard this Thorir and his party struck spurs into their +horses, put them into a gallop, and away they went as hard as they could +in the direction indicated. Now, Grettir knew the country very well, +and he was well aware that south of where he stood were impassable bogs. +Thorir and his fellows were too eager in pursuit to attend to the nature +of the ground over which they rode; besides, they thought that if +Grettir had ridden that way they could ride it as well. They were +speedily mistaken, for in they floundered into a bottomless morass; some +of the horses were in to their saddles; the men got off and got out with +difficulty, and they had much ado to get their horses out at all. +Indeed, some were wallowing there more than half the day. Many curses +were heaped on the churl who had befooled them, but they could not find +him when the went after him to chastise him. + +Grettir hastened back to the dairy, mounted his horse, and rode to Garth +itself, whilst the master was floundering in the bog. As he came to the +farm he saw a tall, well-dressed girl by the door, and he asked who she +was. He was told this was Thorir’s daughter. Then Grettir sang a stave +to her, the meaning of which was that he who came there was the man whom +Thorir was vainly pursuing. + +Much laughter was occasioned by this failure of Thorir to take Grettir +when he was in his own neighbourhood, and by his being so deceived and +befooled by Grettir when he had him in his power. + + + + + *CHAPTER XXXIII.* + + *AT SANDHEAPS.* + + + _A Deadly Enemy—In the Service of Steinvor—The Way to + Church—Crossing the Quivering Flood—The Priest’s Caution—A Weird + Tale—The Old Hag—The Stream-churl—Steinvor’s Husband’s Death—The + Foundation of the Story—The Troll-woman of Grettir—The Basaltic + Troll-wife—The Search under Goda-foss—Grettir’s Dive—The Fight + with the Stream-churl—Runes of the Fight—A Bag of Bones_ + + +The summer was passing away, and Grettir could not remain without +shelter through the winter; so he considered what was best to be done. +He could not ask any farmer in the north-east to shelter him, because +they were all afraid of Thorir of Garth, who would have pursued with +implacable animosity the man who befriended and housed the outlaw. +Moreover, Thorir had his spies everywhere, and Grettir found he had to +shift quarters repeatedly to escape his deadly enemy. + +Now, when the first snows fell Grettir sent his man away with his horses +across country to Biarg, and he went further away from where Thorir was; +but never stayed long anywhere, nor gave his real name. He had no +relatives in this part of the island, and no friends. + +Now, a little before Yule—that is Christmas—he came to a farm called +Sandheaps, on that river which is called the Quivering Flood. This farm +belonged to a widow woman called Steinvor, who had recently lost her +husband. + +Grettir came and offered his services; he said his name was Guest, that +he was out of work, and that he had come there because he heard she was +short of hands. + +Steinvor looked at him, and saw that he was a very powerfully-built man, +and that there was a certain dignity and nobility in his face; so she +accepted him, against the opinion of the rest in the house, who were +frightened at the appearance of Grettir, and did not know what to make +of him, whether he were an ordinary human being or a wild man, half +mountain-goblin or troll. + +It came to pass on Christmas-eve that the widow Steinvor was very +desirous to go to church, but the church was on the further side of the +river, and there was no bridge. + +Grettir heard Steinvor lament that she could not go to church, so he +said bluntly: "You can go. I will attend you and see you over the +water." + +Then she made ready for worship, and took her little daughter with her. +Now, at times the river froze hard across, and then it was possible to +cross on the ice. At other times it might be traversed at a ford. But +when Grettir came to the side of the Quivering Flood, it was plain to +him that by the ice the water could not be crossed. For there had been +a rapid thaw, and now the river was overflowed and very full of water; +and, moreover, it was rolling down great masses of ice. + +When Steinvor saw the condition of the river, she said, "There is +plainly no way across for horse or man." + +"I suppose there is a ford somewhere," said Grettir. + +"Yes," answered Steinvor, "there is a ford at this place; but I do not +see how it is to be traversed." + +"I will carry you across," said Grettir. + +"Carry over the little maiden first," said the widow. "She is the +lightest." + +"I don’t care about making two journeys when one will suffice," answered +Grettir. "Come, jump up; I will carry you in my arms." + +[Illustration: FORDING THE QUIVERING FLOOD.] + +The widow crossed herself, and said, "That will never do. How can you +manage such a burden?" + +But without more ado Grettir caught up Steinvor on his arm, and then he +picked up the little girl and set her on her mother’s lap, and strode +into the water; they were on his left arm, but he kept the right free. +They were so frightened that they durst not cry out. He waded on in the +river, and the water foamed up to his breast; and then he saw a great +ice-floe coming bearing down upon him. He put out his right hand, gave +the mass of ice a thrust, and it was whirled past them by the current. +Then he waded further, and the water washed about his shoulders, and +that was the deepest point. After that the river shallowed, and he bore +the mother and child safely to the shore and set them down. + +Now Grettir turned to go back, and he took up a great stone and set it +on his head, and so waded back. If he had tried to go through the water +without a stone he would have been washed away; but the great stone on +his head enabled him to stand firm and resist the current of the water. +Those who have not been through an Icelandic river can hardly imagine +the intensity of the cold. I have ridden through these rivers, my horse +swimming under me, and when I reached the further side have thrown +myself off and lain on the sand for a quarter of an hour before I could +recover from the numbness caused by the deadly cold; for some of these +rivers are as broad as the Thames at London Bridge, and the water is +milky because full of undissolved snow. + +When Steinvor reached the church every one was astonished to see her, +and asked how she had managed to get across the Quivering Flood. But +when the priest heard the story, he called Steinvor aside, and said: + +"Mind and do not say too much about your new man; do not talk about his +strength, and set folk a-wondering who he may be. I have my own +opinion, and I think you will do well to house him, and say nothing to +anyone about his being in any way remarkable." + +And now there comes into the saga of Grettir a story which is certainly +untrue, but how it comes in can be made out pretty easily. + +The real truth was, as the saga writer confesses, that Grettir remained +hidden at Sandheaps all that winter, and no one in the country round +knew that he was there. But then, the saga writer did not feel +satisfied with such a dull winter, in which nothing happened; so, to +fill out his story and say something interesting, he worked into his +history a wonderful tale. The story, which I tell in my own words, is +this:— + + + + *The Story of the Stream-Troll* + + +There is on the Quivering Flood some miles below Sandheaps a mighty +foss, or waterfall. The whole river pours over a ledge in a thundering, +magnificent cascade. The stream in the middle is broken by an island. +You can hear the roar of the falling water for a long way around, and +see the spray thrown up from the fall like a cloud or column of steam +rising high into the air. This waterfall is called Goda-foss, and was +long supposed to be the finest in the island; but there is another, +which I was the first to see, on the Jokull-river, called Detti-foss, +which is infinitely finer, but which is in a region of utter desert of +sand and volcanic crater, many miles from any human habitation. + +It happens that there is a curious black lava rock standing near the +river, higher up than the fall, which bears a quaint resemblance to an +old woman, and this stone is called The Old Hag; and the story goes that +it is a troll-woman turned to stone. + +Now, you must know that throughout Norway and Iceland, and, indeed, +wherever the Scandinavian race is found, a superstition exists that +every river has its spirit, that lives in the river; and it was held +that these river-spirits demanded a sacrifice of a human life, at least +once a year. If a sacrifice were not given to them, then they took some +man or woman, when crossing the water, and carried the victim away. And +in heathen times there can be no doubt whatever that human sacrifices +were offered to every river; generally an evildoer or a prisoner was +thrown in and drowned, to propitiate the Stream-churl, as he was called, +so that he should not snap at and carry off other and more valuable +lives. Wherever there was a cataract, there the Stream-churl was +believed to live, hidden away behind the curtain of falling water. If +the stream was small, then this spirit or demon was small; if, however, +it were a mighty river, then the spirit was a great troll or giant. +Even to this day in Iceland and Norway, the ignorant and superstitious +believe that there are these Stream-churls, and tell stories about them, +and cannot but suspect that, when anyone is drowned, it is the +Stream-churl exacting his toll. + +Now, it is quite certain that Steinvor, although she was a Christian, +believed in there being a great Stream-churl living under Goda-foss; and +as she had lost her husband and one of her servants who had been drowned +in the Quivering Flood, she held that they had been carried off by the +Troll of the waterfall. + +There had been, as it happened, something mysterious about the death of +Steinvor’s husband. Two years before Grettir came to Sandheaps, on +Christmas-eve, he had disappeared. She had gone off to see some friends +at a distance, and when she returned home next day she heard that her +husband had not been seen—he was gone, and not a trace of him remained. +It occurred to her that in all probability he had gone across the river +to church, and had been carried off by the river—that is, by the +Stream-churl. But she could be certain of nothing, and she was greatly +distressed because she could not give his body burial. A year passed +and not a word about her husband could she hear. His body had not be +found anywhere washed up by the river, supposing he had been drowned. + +Next year she lost one of her men-servants in the same way. He +vanished, and none knew how or whither he had gone. If he had run away, +she would probably have had tidings of him; but she heard none, and his +body was also never found. + +I have no doubt that she told Grettir about this, and also that she +believed that the Stream-churl who lived under Goda-foss had carried off +both her husband and the servant. I believe also that, to satisfy her, +Grettir undertook to look, and that he actually dived under the fall, +and came up and searched between the sheet of falling water and the +rock, and found—nothing. + +That is the foundation of a wonderful story which has found its way into +the saga. It did not satisfy those who told the tale of Grettir that he +should have spent the winter at Sandheaps and done nothing—that he +should have dived under Goda-foss and found nothing. + +So by degrees old nursery tales got mixed up with this incident about +Grettir’s search for the Stream-churl, and all was worked into a +wonderful story, which you shall hear. + +On that night on which Grettir had carried Steinvor across the river, he +returned to the farm, and lay down in his bed. + +When midnight arrived, then a great din was heard outside, and presently +the hall door was thrown open and in through it came a gigantic woman, a +Troll-wife, with a trough in one hand and a huge chopper in the other. + +As she entered she peered about her, and saw Grettir where he lay, and +she ran at him. Then he jumped up and went to meet her, and they fell +a-wrestling terribly, and struggled together so furiously, that all the +panelling of the hall side was broken. + +She was the stronger, and she dragged Grettir towards the door, and +forth towards the entrance, in spite of all his efforts. She had got +him as far as the entrance, when there he made a final struggle, and in +the struggle the door-posts and fittings were torn from their place, and +fell outwards. + +Then the Troll-woman laboured away with him towards the river, and right +down towards the gulfs. + +Grettir was exceedingly weary, yet he saw that his only chance was to +make a last effort, or be flung by her over the edge into the deep, +boiling river. + +All night they contended in such fashion, and ever was he drawing nearer +to the edge. But just as she was preparing to fling him into the water, +he got his right hand free, and he swiftly seized his short-sword, and +struck off her arm; and at that moment the sun rose, and the Troll-woman +was turned into stone. There she stands with her amputated arm-socket, +as a mass of black basalt or lava to this day. + +If the reader will recall the story of Grettir’s struggle with Glam at +Thorod’s-stead, in the valley of Shadows, he will see that this is only +the same story over again almost in every particular,—except that the +first fight was with a man, and this is with a woman. The reason why +this story was concocted and put in here, was to account for the stone +figure which stands by the river, and which is called the Troll-wife. +So far the story carries its character on its face. + +Now we will go on to the next part of the tale. It did not satisfy +people that Grettir should have dived under Goda-foss and found nothing, +so the story was thus told: + +When the goodwife, Steinvor, came from church, she thought that her +house had been rudely handled; so she went to Grettir and asked him what +had occurred. Then he told her all, and she prayed him to go and make a +search for her husband’s bones, under Goda-foss. + +Grettir consented, but he asked that the priest might be sent for. His +name was Stone. Steinvor sent for him, and Stone was curious to know +whether his suspicions about this stranger were true. So he asked him +questions, but Grettir answered that if the priest wanted to know who he +was, he must find out. The priest laughed at the story of the +Troll-wife, and said he did not believe a word about the struggle. + +Then Grettir said, "Well, priest, I see that you have no faith in my +tale; now I propose that you accompany me to Goda-foss, and we will +search for the Troll himself, and see if we can recover the bones of +Steinvor’s husband." + +The priest, Stone, agreed, and they went together to the side of the +waterfall, and they had a rope with them. + +Stone shook his head, and he said, "It would be too risky for anyone to +venture down there." + +"I will go," said Grettir. "But you mind the rope." + +The priest drove a peg into the sward on the cliff, and heaped stones +over it, so as to make the end firm, and then he seated himself by the +heap. + +Then Grettir made a loop in the end of the rope, and put a stone through +the loop, and threw the stone down, and the end of the rope went to the +bottom of the gulf. + +"How are you going down?" asked Stone. + +"I shall dive," said Grettir. + +Then he stripped, but girt on a short-sword, and so leaped off the cliff +into the foss. The priest saw only the soles of his feet as he went +into the water, and then saw no more. + +Now, Grettir had gone in below the fall, and he dived and went under the +curtain of water and came up near the rock. The whirlpool below the +falls was so strong that he had a desperate struggle with the water +before he could reach the rock. + +When he rose, he saw that the water fell over a lip of rock, quite +clear, and that in the face of the rock was a cavern, and that smoke +issued from this cave, and mingling with the spray and foam passed away, +and was not discerned beyond. + +Grettir climbed over the stones into the cave, and there he saw a great +fire flaming from amidst brands of drift-wood; and there was the +Stream-churl seated there, a great Troll with a hideous face. When he +saw Grettir he roared and jumped up, and caught a glaive that was near +him, and smote at the newcomer. Grettir hewed back at him with his +short-sword, and smote the handle of the glaive and broke it. Then the +giant stretched back for a sword that hung up to a peg against the side +of the cave, but as he was thus leaning back Grettir smote him across +the breast, and cut through to the ribs, and gashed open his belly. The +blood poured forth out of the cave and mingled with the stream. When +the priest saw the bloody foam beneath the fall, he was so frightened +that he ran away, for he made sure that Grettir was dead. + +Grettir remained in the cave, standing across the giant, till he had +killed him. Then he took up a flaming brand and searched the cave +through. He found nothing more than dead men’s bones, and these he put +together into a bag, threw that over his shoulder, and went again into +the water. + +He rose beyond the foss and looked up, but could see nothing of the +priest; so he caught the rope, and by means of that he swarmed up to the +top of the cliff. + +Then he sat down, and with a sharp knife he cut runes on a staff. And +what he wrote was this: + + "Down into the gulf I went, + Where the rocks are widely rent; + Where the swirling waters fall + O’er the black basaltic wall; + Where, with voice of thunder, leap + In the foaming darkling deep. + There the stream with icy wave + Washes the grim giant’s cave." + +He had cut as much as he could on one stick, so now he took another, and +on that he cut: + + "Dreadful dweller in the cave + Underneath the falling wave, + Fierce at me he brandished glaive; + Full of rage at me he drove, + Desperate we together strove. + Lo! I smote his halft in twain, + Lo! I smote and he was slain, + Bleeding from each riven vein." + + +Then Grettir carried the bag of bones and the staves to the church, and +laid them in the porch. + +Next morning when the priest came to the church he found the bag of +bones and the staves. + +Such is the story. + +Now, it is clear that a good bit of it is simply transferred from the +story of Grettir going down into the cairn of Karr the Old. + +The real truth of the tale is no more than what has been stated, that +Grettir went under the waterfall and found nothing. It is, of course, +possible that he may have hoaxed the priest; but I think it more +probable that all this marvellous matter is simply tacked on to one +simple fact, and that it was taken, partly from the story of Grettir in +the barrow of Karr, and partly from that of his struggle with Glam. + +What the saga writer does admit is that the versions of the story do not +quite agree, and that—in spite of this wonderful achievement, folks did +not know that Grettir was at Sandheaps that winter. + + + + + *CHAPTER XXXIV.* + + *HOW GRETTIR WAS DRIVEN ABOUT.* + + + _Thorir comes too Late—The Needle of Basalt—The Island of + Drangey—The Terrors of the Dark—Brother holds to Brother_ + + +After a while rumours reached Thorir of Garth that either Grettir, or +someone very like Grettir,—a tall, powerful man with reddish hair, and +one who gave no account of whence he came,—was lodging at Sandheaps, and +Thorir made ready to go there after him. Fortunately Grettir, or rather +the housewife Steinvor, heard of his intention, and so Grettir made off +out of the valley of the Quivering Flood before Thorir came there in +quest of him. + +He escaped to Maddervales, in the Horg-river Dale. This is a noble +valley of the Horg River, with chains of snowy peaks on each side, of +peculiar shape, barred with precipices of basalt, on which lie slopes of +snow. + +Some way up this valley are some very remarkable spires of basaltic +rock, one of which that is like a needle is said to have been climbed by +Grettir whilst staying in this valley. It is not so said in the saga, +but I was told so on the spot, and the tale goes that when he climbed to +the top he slipped his belt round the needle, and there it hangs round +it still—but no one has been up since to find if it be there where he +left it. + +He could not remain long there, for Gudmund the Rich, who was farmer at +Maddervales, was afraid to house him for long. Thorir of Garth would +come and burn his house if he harboured Grettir. However, he kept him +for some little while, and then he gave him advice what he should do. + +It had come to such a pass with Grettir now that no one dared to shelter +him for long, and Thorir had spies everywhere to inform him where +Grettir was. + +Gudmund the Rich said to Grettir: "You can find no safety anywhere that +men dwell; for if there be not treachery, yet the news flies about that +you are there. So I advise you to go where you shall be alone." + +"Where shall I go?" asked Grettir. "I am hunted like a dog." + +"There is an island," answered Gudmund, "lying in the Skagafirth, called +Drangey. It is a place excellent for defence, as no one can reach it +without a ladder. If you could get upon Drangey, no one could come on +you unawares. You would see anyone who came by boat to the island, and +you could pull up a rope-ladder, without which no one would be able to +ascend." + +"I will try that," said Grettir; "but I have become so fearsome in the +dark that not even at the risk of my life can I endure to be alone." + +"Well," said Gudmund, "that is my counsel. Trust none but yourself. +Treachery lies where least expected." + +Grettir thanked him for his advice, and went away west to see his +mother. And he was most joyfully welcomed by her and his young brother +Illugi at Biarg. There he remained some nights—not many; for Ramsfirth +was only over a brow of hill, and the tidings of his return home was +sure in a few days to reach the relatives of Oxmain, when he would again +be set on. + +I said, after giving an account of Grettir’s adventure at +Thorhall’s-stead with Glam, that there must have been something of fact +in that story, and not pure fiction; and now it has been seen how that +event coloured and affected his whole after life, leaving his nerves so +shaken, that he could not drive off the impression then made on him, and +he was ready to run serious risks rather than be subject to the terrors +that came on him in the dark when alone. + +He told his mother and Illugi how it was with him, and how that he had +been advised to go to Drangey, but that he could not; he dare not, in +the long winter night, be on that lonely islet by himself. + +Then Illugi his brother said, "Grettir, I will be with you." + +"Brother holds to brother as hand clasps hand," answered Grettir, and so +they parted. All that summer he wandered about in wild places, shifting +his quarters repeatedly, and living how he could. + + + + + *CHAPTER XXXV.* + + *ON THE ISLE.* + + + _Illugi will go to Drangey—Asdis gives Consent—Asdis prophesies + Woe—Within Sight of Drangey—Glaum becomes Grettir’s + Servant—Thorwald rows Grettir to Drangey—Thorbiorn Hook—The + Bonders visit the Island—Grettir in Possession—An Inaccessible + Spot_ + + +When summer was now over, and the first snow of winter began to fall, +when the days were rapidly shortening, and the sun had gone out of the +north to the south, where it began to move in a rapidly narrowing arc, +Grettir returned to Biarg and remained there a while. "But," says the +saga, "so great grew his fear in the dark that he durst go nowhere as +soon as dusk set in." We can see that the many years strain on his +nerves had broken them. Hunted about as a wild beast, always forced to +be on his guard, never able to sleep without fear of being murdered in +his sleep, the trial had told on him. This was now the winter of 1028. +He was aged but thirty-one; his strength of body was not abated, only +his nervous force. He had been in outlawry altogether fifteen years, +three for the slaying of Skeggi, then he had been outlawed by King Olaf +in 1016. On his return to Iceland he had been outlawed in 1017; this +was the eleventh year of his outlawry at the suit of Thorir of Garth, an +outlawry not only unjust, but according to general opinion illegal, +because he had been tried and sentenced in his absence, and without any +witnesses having been called to establish his guilt—condemned on hearsay +evidence, and he never allowed to defend himself. + +Now Illugi, Grettir’s sole surviving brother, was aged fifteen, and was +a very handsome, honest-looking boy. + +"Grettir," said he, "you know what I said. I will go with you to +Drangey, if you will take me. I know not that I will be of much help to +you, but this I know, that I will be ever true to you, and will never +run from you so long as you stand up. Besides, I shall like to be with +you, for here at home we are ever in anxiety for news about you, always +fearing the worst; but if I am at your side, I shall know how you fare." + +"I would rather have you with me than anyone else," answered Grettir. +"But I cannot take you unless our mother consent." + +Then said Asdis, "Now I can see that I have the choice of evils. I can +ill spare Illugi; yet I know your trouble, Grettir, and that something +must be done for you. It grieves me, my sons, to see you both leave me; +yet I will not withhold my youngest from you, Grettir. It is right that +brother should help brother." + +That rejoiced Illugi. Then Asdis gave her sons what things she thought +they might want on the island, and they made them ready to depart. + +She led them outside the farm inclosure, and then she took farewell of +them, saying, "My two sons! There you depart from me, and I dreamed last +night that you left me for ever, and would fall together. What is fated +none may fly from. Never shall I see you again, either of you. Be it +so, that one fate overtake you both. In my dream I saw your bones +whitening on Drangey. Be careful and watchful. My dreams have troubled +me greatly. Above all beware of witchcraft. None can cope with the +craft of the old." + +When she had said this she wept sore. + +Then said Grettir, "Weep not, mother, for if we be set on with weapons +it will be said of thee that thou hadst men and not girls for thy +children. Live on well, and be hale." + +So they parted. Grettir and Illugi went to their relatives and visited +them, never, however, staying long in any place, and so on by Swine +Lake, a long sheet of water in a shallow basin, to the Blend River. This +river is of the colour of milk and water, because it is so full of +undissolved snow, and milk and water is called Bland, _i.e._ Blend, in +Icelandic. Another river enters it that is called the Black Stream, +because of the dark colour of the water. Grettir turned up the valley +of the Black River and then over a pass by a pretty lake lying in a +mountain lap, down into a broad marshy valley in which are three or four +rivers, and boiling springs pouring forth clouds of steam on the +hill-slopes. The valley is commanded by a beautiful mountain peak, +called the Measuring Peak, because the natives thereabouts reckon +distances from it. + +Grettir and Illugi went down this valley till they reached the sea, and +now there opened before them a glorious view of the fiord, extending out +north about forty miles, and from ten to fifteen miles across, between +mountains and precipitous cliffs. A little way back from the eastern +shore stood up the Unadals Jokull, crowned with perpetual snows and with +glaciers rolling down the sides, and on the west, close to the sea, +seeming to rise in a wall out of it and running up into fantastic peaks, +was the range of Tindastoll, famous for its cornelians and agates and +other precious stones. In the offing, fifteen miles out, right in the +midst of the fiord, stood up the isle of Drangey with sheer cliffs, +about which the sea perpetually danced and foamed. + +Grettir and Illugi skirted the shore on the west. The wind was blowing +cold, and snow was driving before it, as they passed a farm. The farmer +stood in his door, and saw a great man stride by with an axe over his +shoulder, his hood thrown back, and his wild red hair blowing about in +the gale. "Verily," said the farmer, "that must be a strange fellow not +to cover his head with his hood in such weather as this." Near this +little farm the brothers stumbled upon a tall, thin man, dressed in rags +and with a very big head. They asked each other’s names, and the fellow +called himself Glaum. He was out of work, and he went along with the +brothers chatting, and telling them all the gossip of the neighbourhood. +Then Glaum asked if they were in want of a servant, and Grettir gladly +accepted him, and the man became thenceforth his constant attendant. But +the fellow was a sad boaster, and most people thought him both a fool +and a coward. He was not fond of work, and he spent his time strolling +about the country picking up and retailing news. + +Grettir and his brother and Glaum reached a farm called Reykir as the +day closed in, where was a hot spring in the farm paddock. The farmer’s +name was Thorwald; and Grettir asked him to put him across in a boat to +Drangey. Thorwald shook his head and said, "I shall get into trouble +with those who have rights of pasturage on the island. I had rather +not." + +Then Grettir offered him a bag of silver which his mother had given him, +and at the sight of this, Thorwald raised his eyebrows and thought that +he might perhaps do what was asked. The distance was just five miles. + +So on a moonshiny night Thorwald got three of his churls and they rowed +Grettir and the two who went with him over. On reaching his destination +Grettir was well pleased with the spot, for it was covered with a +profusion of grass, and the sides were so precipitous that it seemed a +sheer impossibility for anyone to ascend it without the aid of the +rope-ladder that hung from strong staples at the summit. In summer the +place would swarm with sea-birds, and at the time there were eighty +sheep left on the island for fattening. + +A good many farmers had rights of pasturage on the island. Hialti of +Hof was one, whose brother’s name was Thorbiorn Hook, of whom more +hereafter. Another was Haldor, who lived at Head-strand; he had married +the sister of these brothers. Biorn, Eric, and Tongue-stone were the +names of three others. + +Thorbiorn Hook was a hard-headed, ill-disposed fellow. His father had +married a second time, and there was no love lost between the stepmother +and Thorbiorn. It is said that one day as The Hook was sitting at +draughts, she passed, and looking over his shoulder laughed, because he +had made a bad move. Thorbiorn Hook thereupon said something abusive and +insulting; this so enraged her that she snatched up a draught-man, and +pressing it against his eye-socket, drove the eyeball out. He started +to his feet, and with the draught-board struck her over the head such a +blow that she took to her bed, and died of the injury. The Hook now +went from bad to worse, and leaving home settled at Woodwick on the +fiord, a small farm. It will be understood from this story that he was +a violent and brutal fellow, and that, indeed, the life in his father’s +house had not been of an orderly description. + +As many as twenty farmers claimed rights to turn out their sheep on +Drangey in summer. The way they managed it is the way still employed by +their successors. They take the sheep out in boats, and then put them +over their shoulders, with the feet tied under their chins, and so they +climb the rope-ladder, carrying the sheep up on their backs. Though all +these farmers claimed rights on Drangey, The Hook and his brother had +the largest share, that is to say, the right to turn out more sheep than +the rest. + +Now, about the time of the winter solstice, that is just before Yule, +the bonders made ready to visit the island, and bring home their sheep +for slaughtering for the Christmas feasting. They rowed out in a large +boat, and on nearing the island were much surprised to see figures +moving on top of the cliffs. How anyone had got there without their +knowledge puzzled them, for Thorwald had kept his counsel, and told no +one what he had done for Grettir. They pulled hard for the +landing-place, where hung the ladder, but Grettir drew it up before they +landed. + +The bonders shouted to know who were on the crags, and Grettir, looking +over, told his name and those of his companions. The farmers then asked +how he had got there? who had put him across? + +Grettir answered, "If you very much wish to know, it was not one of you +below now speaking to us. It was someone else, who had a good boat and +a pair of lusty arms." + +"Let us fetch our sheep away," called the bonders, "then you come to +land with us. We will not make you pay for the sheep you have eaten, +and we will do you no harm." + +"Well offered," answered Grettir; "but he who takes keeps hold; and a +bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. Believe me, I will not leave +this island till the time of my outlawry is expired, unless I be carried +from it dead." + +The bonders were silenced, it seemed to them that they had got an ugly +customer on Drangey, to get rid of whom would be no easy matter; so they +rowed home, very ill-satisfied with the result of their expedition. + +The news spread like wildfire, and was talked about all through the +neighbourhood. Thorir of Garth was the more embittered, because he +could see no way in which Grettir could be reached and overmastered in +this inaccessible spot. + + + + + *CHAPTER XXXVI.* + + *OF GRETTIR ON HERON-NESS.* + + + _Grettir goes to Heron-ness—At the Games—The Hook’s + Challenge—Amongst Strangers—The Oath of Safe-conduct—An old + Formula—A Surprise for the Bonders—Regretting the Oath—The two + Brothers—Grettir returns to Drangey_ + + +Winter passed, and at the beginning of summer the whole district met at +an assize held on the Herons’-ness, a headland in the Skaga-firth, +between the rivers that discharge into the fiord. It is, in fact, the +seaward point of a large island in the delta of the river that divides +about eight miles higher up, inland. The gathering was thronged, and +the litigations and merry-makings made the assize last over many days. +Grettir guessed what was going on by seeing a number of boats pass to +the head of the fiord. He became restless, and at last announced to his +brother that he intended being present at the assize, cost what it +might. Illugi thought it was sheer madness, but Grettir was resolute. +He begged his brother and Glaum to watch the ladder and await his +return. + +Now, Grettir was on very good terms with the farmer at Reykir, and with +some others on that side of the firth, and they were not unwilling to +help him. Sometimes his mother sent things to the brothers that she +thought they would need, and then there were not wanting men to take +these over to the island. So Grettir got put across by his friend +Thorwald to the mainland, and he borrowed of him a set of old clothes, +and thus attired he went along the coast boldly to Heron-ness. He had +on a fur cap, which was drawn closely over his eyes, and concealed his +face, so that no one might recognize him. Now, in parts of Iceland, the +flies are such torments that men have to wear literally cloth helmets, +with only nose and eyes showing, the cloth fitting tight to the head, +and round over the ears and neck, exactly like a helmet, or a German +knitted sledging cap. When I was in Iceland, when the flies were +troublesome, I put my head into a butterfly net, and buckled it round my +neck tightly with a leather strap. Now, Grettir’s cap was something +like those I have described, and no one was surprised at his wearing it, +as the whole of that valley is one vast marsh, and is infested with +flies that blacken the air and madden men and beasts. + +Grettir thus attired sauntered between the booths erected on the +headland, till he reached the spot where games were going on. + +Now, Hialti and Thorbiorn Hook were the chief men in these sports. Hook +was specially noisy and boisterous, and drove men together to the +sports, and whether men liked it or not, he insisted on their +attendance. He would take this man and that by the hands and drag him +forth to the field, where the wrestling and other games went on. + +Now, first wrestled those who were weakest, and then each man in turn, +and great fun there was. But when most men had tried their strength +except the very strongest, it was asked who would be a match for Hialti +and The Hook. These two being the strongest and the roughest of all, +went round inviting each man in turn to wrestle with them, but all +declined. + +Then Thorbiorn Hook, looking round, spied a tall fellow in the shabbiest +and quaintest of suits, sitting by himself, speaking to no one. +Thorbiorn walked up to him, laid his hands on his shoulders and asked +him to wrestle. + +The man sat still, and The Hook could not drag him from his seat. + +"Well!" exclaimed The Hook, "no one else has kept his place before me +to-day. Who are you?" + +"Guest," answered Grettir shortly. + +"A wished-for guest thou wilt be, if thou furnish some entertainment to +the company," said Thorbiorn Hook. + +Grettir answered, "I am indisposed to make a fool of myself before +strangers. How am I to know, supposing that I give you a fall, that I +shall not be set upon by you or your kindred, and be unfairly treated?" + +Then many exclaimed that there should be fair play. + +"It is all very well your saying Fair-play now; but will you say +Fair-play, and stick to it, supposing I get the better of this man. You +are all akin, or friends, and I am a stranger to you all." + +Again he was assured that no one would resent what he did. + +"But see," said Grettir, "I have not wrestled for many years, and have +lost all skill in the matter." + +Yet they pressed him the more. + +Then he said, "I will wrestle with whom you will, if you will swear to +show me no violence so long as I am among you as a guest." + +This all agreed to, and an oath of safe conduct was made, the form of +which is so curious that it must be given. + +A man named Hafr recited the terms of the oath, and the rest agreed to +it. + +"Here set I peace among all men towards this man Guest, who sits before +us, and in this oath I bind all magistrates and well-to-do bonders, and +all men who bear swords, and all men whatsoever in this district, +present or absent, named or unnamed. These are to show peace to, and +give free passage to the aforenamed stranger, that he may sport, +wrestle, make merry, abide with us and depart from us, without stay, +whether he go by land or flood. He shall have peace where he is, in all +places where he may be till he reaches his house whence he set out, so +long and no longer. + +"I set this treaty of peace between him and us, our kinsmen male and +female, our servants and children. May the breaker of this compact be +cast out of the favour of God and good men, out of his heavenly +inheritance and the society of just men and angels. May he be an +outcast from land to its farthest limits, far as men chase wolves, as +Christians frequent churches, as heathen men offer sacrifices, as flame +burns, earth produces herb, as baby calls its mother, and mother rocks +her child; far as fire is kindled, ships glide, lightnings flicker, sun +shines, snow lies, Finns slide on snow-shoes, fir-trees grow, falcons +fly on a spring day with a breeze under their wings; far as heaven +bends, earth is peopled, winds sweep the water into waves, churls till +corn; he shall be banished from churches and the company of Christian +men, from heathen folk, from house and den, from every house—save hell! +Now let us be agreed whether we be on mountain or shore, on ship or +skate, on ground or glacier, at sea or in saddle, as friend with friend, +as brother with brother, as father with son, in this our compact. Lay +we now hand to hand, and hold we true peace and keep every word of this +oath." + +Now, this formula is very curious. It must have been brought by the +Icelandic settlers with them from Norway, for parts of it are +inappropriate to their land. There are no Finns there, nor do fir-trees +grow there, nor is any corn tilled. But all that about Christians is of +later origin. + +After a little hesitation the oath was taken by all. + +Then said Grettir, "You have done well, only beware of breaking your +oath. I am ready to do my part, without delay, to fulfil your wishes." + +Thereupon he flung aside his hood and garments, and the assembled +bonders looked at each other, and were disconcerted, for they saw that +they had in their midst Grettir Asmund’s son. They were silent, and +thought that they had taken the oath somewhat unadvisedly, and they +whispered the one into another, to find if there were not some loophole +by which they might evade the obligation to observe the oath. + +"Come now," said Grettir, "let me know your purpose, for I shall not +long stand stripped. It will be worse for you than for me if you break +your oath, for it will go down in story to the end of time that the men +of Heron-ness swore and were perjured." + +He received no answer. The chiefs moved away; some wanted to break the +truce, and argued that an oath taken to an outlaw was not legally +binding; others insisted that the oath must be observed. Then Grettir +sang: + + "Many trees-of-wealth (_men_) this morn, + Failed the well-known well to know, + Two ways turn the sea-flame-branches (_men_), + When a trick on them is tried; + Falter folk in oath fulfilling, + Hafr’s talking lips are dumb." + + +Then Tongue-stone said, "You think so, do you, Grettir? Well, I will +say this of you, you are a man of dauntless courage. Look how the +chiefs are deep in discussion how to deal with you." + +Then Grettir sang: + + "Shield-lifters (_men_) rubbing of noses, + Shield-tempest-senders (men) shake beards, + Fierce-hearted serpent’s-lair-scatterers (_men_), + Lay their heads one ’gainst another, + Now that they know, are regretting + The peace they have sworn to to-day." + + +In these staves a number of periphrases for men or warriors are used—and +the use of these periphrases constitute the charm of these verses. + +Then Hialti of Hof burst away from the rest, and said, "No, never, never +shall it be said of us men of Heron-ness, that we have broken an oath +because we have found it inconvenient to keep it. Grettir shall be at +full liberty to go to his place in peace, and woe betide him who lays +hand on him, to do him an injury. But an oath no longer binds us should +he venture ashore again." + +All except Thorbiorn Hook, Hialti’s brother, agreed to this, and felt +their minds and consciences relieved, that he had spoken out as a man of +honour. And thus was seen how of those two brothers, rude and violent +though both were, Hialti had some nobleness in him that was lacking in +the other. + +The wrestling began by Grettir being matched with Thorbiorn Hook, and +after a very brief struggle Grettir freed himself from his antagonist, +leaped over his back, caught him by the belt, lifted him off his legs, +and flung him over his back. This is a throw called "showing the white +mare," among Cornish wrestlers of the present day, and a very dangerous +throw it is, for it sometimes breaks the back of the man thrown. The +Hook, however, picked himself up, and the wrestling continued with +unabated vigour, and it was impossible to tell which side had the +mastery, for, though Grettir was matched against both brothers, and +after each bout with one brother fell to with the other, he was never +thrown down. After all three were covered with blood and bruises the +match was closed, the judges deciding that the two brothers conjointly +were not stronger than Grettir alone, though they were each of them as +powerful as two ordinary able-bodied men. + +Grettir at once left the place of gathering, rejecting all the +entreaties of the farmers that he would leave Drangey. And, so, after +all but The Hook had thanked him for his wrestling and praised his +activity and strength, he departed. He was put across from Reykir to +his island, and was received with open arms by Illugi. + +There now they abode peaceably, and Grettir told his brother and his +churl Glaum the story of what had taken place at the assize, and thus +the summer wore away. + +There was much talk through the island of Iceland about this adventure, +and all good men approved the conduct of the men of the Skagafiord that +they had kept the oath they had so inconsiderately taken. + + + + + *CHAPTER XXXVII.* + + *OF HŒRING’S LEAP.* + + + _The Piebald Ram—In want of Fire—Not born to be Drowned—Thorwald + aids Grettir—A Stratagem—Hœring climbs the Cliff—Hœring’s Leap_ + + +The smaller farmers began seriously to feel their want of the islet +Drangey for pasture in summer, and, as there seemed no chance of their +getting rid of Grettir, they sold their rights to Thorbiorn Hook, who +set himself in earnest to devise a plan by which he might possess +himself of the island. + +When Grettir had been two winters on the island, he had eaten all the +sheep except one piebald ram, with magnificent horns, which became so +tame that he ran after them wherever they went, and in the evening came +to the hut Grettir had erected and butted at the door till let in. + +The brothers liked this place of exile, as there was no dearth of eggs +and birds, besides which, some drift-wood was thrown upon the strand, +and served as fuel. + +Grettir and Illugi spent their days in clambering among the rocks, and +rifling nests, and the occupation of the thrall was to collect drift +timber and keep up the fire in the hut. He was expected to remain awake +and watch the fire whilst the others slept. He got very tired of his +life on the islet, became idle, morose, and reserved. One night, +notwithstanding Grettir’s warnings to him to be more careful, as they +had no boat, he let the fire go out. Grettir was very angry, and told +Glaum that he deserved a sound thrashing for his neglect. The thrall +replied that he loathed the life he led; and that it seemed it was not +enough to Grettir that he should keep him there as a prisoner, he must +also maltreat him. + +Grettir consulted his brother what was best to be done, and Illugi +replied that the only thing that could be done was to await the arrival +of a boat from the friendly farmer at Reykir. + +"We shall have to wait long enough for that," said Grettir. "The +bonders have taken it ill that he has favoured us, and he is now +unwilling to be seen visiting Drangey. The only chance is for me to +swim ashore and secure a light." + +"Do not attempt that!" exclaimed Illugi. "That is what you did in +Norway, and that led to all your misfortune." + +"This case is different," answered Grettir. "Then I brought fire for +ill-conditioned men, now it is for ourselves. Then I knew not who was +on the other side, but now I can get the fire for the asking from +Thorwald." + +"But the distance is so great!" remonstrated Illugi. + +"Do not fear for me," said Grettir; "I was not born to be drowned." + +From Drangey to Reykir is, as already said, about five English miles. + +Grettir prepared for swimming, by dressing in loose thin drawers and a +sealskin hood; he tied his fingers together, that they might offer more +resistance to the water when he struck out. + +The day was fine and warm. Grettir started in the evening, when the +tide was in his favour, setting in; and his brother anxiously watched +him from the rocks. At sunset he reached the land, after having floated +and swum the whole distance. Immediately on coming ashore, he went to +the warm spring and bathed in it, before entering the house. The hall +door was open, and Grettir stepped in. A large fire had been burning on +the hearth, so that the room was very warm; Grettir was so thoroughly +exhausted that he lay down beside the hot embers, and was soon fast +asleep. In the morning he was found by the farmer’s daughter, who gave +him a bowl of milk, and brought her father to him. Thorwald furnished +him with fire, and rowed him back to the island, astonished beyond +measure at his achievement, in having swum such a distance. + +Now, the farmers on the Skagafiord began to taunt Thorbiorn Hook with +his unprofitable purchase of the island, and Hook was greatly irritated +and perplexed what to do. + +During the summer, a ship arrived in the firth, the captain of which was +a young and active man called Hœring. He lodged with Thorbiorn Hook +during the autumn, and was continually urging his host to row him out to +Drangey, that he might try to climb the precipitous sides of the island. +The Hook required very little pressing; and one fine afternoon he rowed +his guest out to Drangey, and put him stealthily ashore, without +attracting the notice of those on the height. For in some places the +cliffs overhung, so that a boat passing beneath could not be seen from +above. Now Hœring had lain in the bottom of the boat, covered with a +piece of sailcloth, so that the brothers saw nothing of him as the boat +was approaching the islet. + +They saw and recognized Thorbiorn Hook and his churls, and at once drew +up the ladder. Now it was whilst they were watching at the +landing-place that Thorbiorn put Hœring out on another point, where the +cliffs seemed possible to be climbed by a very skilful man, and then +came on to the usual landing place, and there shouted to Grettir. +Grettir replied, and then Thorbiorn began the usual arguments to +persuade the outlaw to leave the isle. He promised to give him shelter +in his house the winter, if he would do so. All was in vain. What he +sought was to divert Grettir’s attention so as to allow time and +occasion for Hœring to climb the cliffs unobserved and unresisted. + +The discussion went on but led to nothing. In the meantime Hœring had +managed most cleverly to get up by a way never ascended by man before or +after; and when he came to the top and had his feet on the turf, he saw +where the brothers stood with their backs turned towards him, and he +thought that now an opportunity had come for him to make himself a great +name. Grettir suspected nothing, and continued talking to Thorbiorn, +who was getting, or feigning to get, angry, and used big and violent +words. + +Now, as luck would have it, Illugi chanced to turn his head, and he saw +a man approaching from behind. + +Then he cried out, "Brother! Brother! Here comes a man at us with +uplifted axe!" + +"You go after him," said Grettir. "I will watch at the ladder." + +So Illugi started to his feet and went to meet Hœring, and when the +young merchant saw that he was discovered, he fled away across the +islet, and Illugi went after him. And when Hœring came to the edge he +leaped down, hoping to fall into the sea; but he had missed his +reckoning, and he went upon some skerries over which the waves tossed, +and broke every bone in his body, and so ended his life. The spot is +called Hœring’s Leap to this day. + +Illugi came back, and Grettir asked him what had been the end of the +encounter. Illugi told him. + +"Now, Thorbiorn," shouted Grettir; "we have had enough of profitless +talk. Go round to the other side of the island and gather up the +remains of your friend." + +The Hook pushed off from the strand and returned home, ill pleased with +the result of the expedition, and Grettir remained unmolested on Drangey +the ensuing winter. + + + + + *CHAPTER XXXVIII.* + + *OF THE ATTEMPT MADE BY GRETTIR’s FRIENDS.* + + + _The New Law-man—The Outlawry almost at an End_ + + +The ensuing summer, that is to say, the summer of 1031, at the great +annual assize at Thingvalla, all Grettir’s kin and friends brought up +the matter of outlawry, and contended that he ought to have his sentence +done away with. They said that no man could be an outlaw all his life, +that was not a condition contemplated by their laws. They said that he +had been outlawed first in 1011 for the slaying of Skeggi, and that he +had been in outlawry ever since, which made nineteen years. + +The old law-man was dead, and now there was another at the assize, whose +name was Stein. He laid down that no man might by law be in outlawry +more than twenty years. Now, when they came to reckon since 1011 it was +nineteen years. It was true that he had been outlawed thrice, once for +Skeggi, then by King Olaf, and lastly by the court for the burning of +the sons of Thorir of Garth, still—the fact remained that for nineteen +years he had been an outlaw, and Stein laid down that by next assize, +that is to say in one year, his outlawry would have expired. + +Thereat Grettir’s kinsfolk were pleased, for they thought that he would +only have to spend one winter more on Drangey, and afterwards his +troubles would be at an end; Thorir of Garth and his other foes could no +more pursue him, and the price set on his head would fall away. + +But on the other hand, Thorir of Garth, who had not become more +charitable and forgiving as he grew old, became still more incensed and +impatient to have Grettir killed before this year would expire, also +Thorbiorn Hook cast about how he might be avenged for the deprivation of +his rights over Drangey. The men who had sold their claims came to +Thorbiorn, and told him he must do one of two things: get rid of Grettir +and assert his rights by turning out sheep on the islet, or they would +regard the sale as quashed, by his non-usance of the pasture, and they +would reclaim their shares of the island as soon as Grettir’s outlawry +was at an end, and he left the place. + + + + + *CHAPTER XXXIX.* + + *OF THE OLD HAG.* + + + _The Hook’s Foster-mother—The Hag’s Request—The Witch in the + Boat—The Hag’s Dooming—An Unlucky Throw—Working Bane—The Magic + Runes_ + + +Now it was so, that Thorbiorn Hook had a foster-mother, a woman advanced +in age, and of a very malicious disposition. When the people of Iceland +accepted Christianity, she, in her heart, remained a heathen, and would +not be baptized and have anything to do with the new religion. She had +always been reckoned a witch, but with the introduction of Christianity +witchcraft had been made illegal, and anyone who had recourse to sorcery +was severely dealt with. The old woman had not forgotten her +incantations and strange ceremonies, whereby she thought to be able to +conjure the spirits of evil, and send ill on such as offended her. + +When Thorbiorn Hook found that he could contrive in no way to get +Grettir out of Drangey, and when he saw that if his expulsion were +delayed, and Grettir left of his own accord, he would forfeit the money +he had paid for the rights of pasturage on the island, he went to his +foster-mother, and told her his difficulty, and pretty plainly let her +understand that as he could get help nowhere else, he did not mind +having recourse to the black art. + +"Ah!" cackled she, "I see how it is, when all else fails, man’s arms and +man’s wit, then you come to the bed-ridden crone and seek her aid. +Well, I will assist you to the best of my power, on one condition, and +that is, that you obey me without questioning." + +The Hook agreed to what she said, and so all rested till August without +the matter being again alluded to. + +Then one beautiful day the hag said to Thorbiorn, "Foster-son, the sea +is calm and the sky bright, what say you to our rowing over to Drangey +and stirring up the old strife with Grettir? I will go with you and +hear what he says, then I shall be able to judge what fate lies before +him, and I can death-doom him accordingly." + +The Hook answered, "It is waste of labour going out to Drangey. I have +been there several times and never return better off than when I went." + +"You promised to obey me without questioning," said the crone. "Follow +my advice and all will be well for you and ill for Grettir." + +"I will do as you bid me, foster-mother," said Thorbiorn, "though I had +sworn not to go back to Drangey till I was sure I could work the bane of +Grettir." + +"That man is not laid low hastily, and patience is needed; but his time +will come, and may be close at hand. What the end of this visit will be +I cannot say. It is hid from me, but I know very well that it will lead +to his or to your destruction." + +Thorbiorn ran out a long boat, and entered it with twelve men. The hag +sat in the bows coiled up amongst rugs and wadmal. When they reached +the island, at once Grettir and Illugi ran to the ladder, and Thorbiorn +again asked if Grettir would come to his house for the winter. + +Grettir made the same reply as before, "Do what you will, in this spot I +await my fate." + +Now Thorbiorn saw that this expedition also was likely to be resultless, +and he became very angry. "I see," he said, "that I have to do with an +ill-conditioned churl, who does not know how to accept a good offer when +made. I shall not come here again with such an offer." + +"That pleases me well," said Grettir, "for you and I are not like to +come to terms that will satisfy both." + +At that moment the hag began to wriggle out of her wraps in the bows. +Grettir had not perceived her hitherto. Now she screamed out, "These +men may be strong, but their strength is ebbing. They may have had +luck, but luck has left. See what a difference there is between men. +Thorbiorn makes good offers, and such they blindly, foolishly reject. +Those who are blinded and cast away chances do not have chances come to +them again. And now Grettir"—she raised her withered arms over her +head—"I doom you to all ill, I doom you to loss of health, to loss of +wisdom and of foresight. I doom you to decline and to death. I doom +your blood to fester, and your brain to be clouded. I doom your marrow +to curdle and chill. Henceforth, so is my doom, all good things will +wane from you, and all evil things will wax and overwhelm you. So be +it." As she spoke a shudder ran over Grettir’s limbs, and he asked who +that imp was in the boat. Illugi told him he fancied it must be that +old heathen woman, the foster-mother of Thorbiorn Hook. + +"Since the powers of evil are with our foes," said Grettir, "how may we +oppose them? Never before has anything so shaken me with presentiment +of evil as have the curses of this witch. But she shall have a reminder +of her visit to Drangey." + +Thereupon he snatched up a large stone and threw it at the boat, and it +fell on the bundle of rags, in the midst of which lay the old hag. As +it struck there rose a wild shriek from the witch, for the stone had hit +and broken her leg. + +"Brother!" exclaimed Illugi, "you should not have done this." + +"Blame me not," answered Grettir gloomily. "It had been well had the +stone fallen on her head. But I trow the working of her curse is begun, +and what I have done has been because my understanding and wit are +already clouded." + +On the return of Thorbiorn to the mainland the crone was put to bed, and +The Hook was less pleased than ever with his trip to the island. His +foster-mother, however, consoled him. + +"Do not be discouraged," she said. "Now is come the turning-point of +Grettir’s fortunes, and his luck will leave him more and more as the +light dies away up to Yule. But the light dies and comes again. With +Grettir it will not be so, it will die, and die, till it goes out in +endless night." + +"You are a confident woman, foster-mother," said Thorbiorn. + +When a month had elapsed, the old woman was able to leave her bed, and +to limp across the room. + +One day she asked to be led down to the beach. Thorbiorn gave her his +arm, and she had her crutch, and she hobbled down to where the water was +lapping on the shingle. And there, just washed up on the beach, lay a +log of drift-timber, just large enough for a man to carry upon his +shoulder. Then she gave command that the log should be rolled over and +over that she might examine each side. The log on one side seemed to +have been charred, and she sent to the house for a plane, and had the +burnt wood smoothed away. + +When that was done she dismissed every one save her foster-son, and then +with a long knife she cut runes on the wood where it had been +planed—that is to say, words written in the peculiar characters made of +strokes which Odin was supposed to have invented. Then she cut herself +on the arm, and smeared the letters she had cut with her blood. After +that she rose and began to leap and dance, screaming a wild spell round +the log, making the most strange and uncouth contortions, and waving her +crutch in the air, making with it mysterious signs over the log. +Presently, when the incantation was over, she ordered the log to be +rolled back into the sea. The tide was now ebbing, and with the tide +the log went out to sea further and further from land till Thorbiorn saw +it no more. + + + + + *CHAPTER XL.* + + *HOW THE LOG CAME TO DRANGEY.* + + + _Food for the Winter—Cast up by the Sea—The Log comes back + again—The Worst is come—An ugly Wound—The Hag’s Revenge—Grettir + sings his Great Deeds—Presage of Evil_ + + +In the meantime Grettir, Illugi, and the churl Glaum were on Drangey +catching fish and fowl for winter supplies. The fish in Iceland are +beaten hard with stones and then dried in the wind, that makes them like +leather; but it preserves them for a very long time, and they form the +staple of food, as the people have no corn, and consequently no bread. +They put butter on these dry fish, and tear them with their teeth. What +Grettir did with the fowl he caught was to pickle them with salt water +from the sea, and when the frost and snow came on then he would take +them out of pickle and freeze them. Now, the whole of the sheep had +been eaten some time ago, except the old mottled ram, which Grettir +could not find in his heart to kill; and, as may be supposed, he and his +brother suffered from want of change of food. Especially deficient were +they in any green food; and we know, though he did not, that the eating +of green food is a very essential element of health. He had nothing for +consumption but salted birds and dried fish—no milk, no bread, no +vegetables. Such a diet was certain to disorder his health. + +The day after that on which the hag had charmed the piece of timber, the +two brothers were walking on the little strand to the west of the island +looking for drift-wood. + +"Here is a fine beam!" exclaimed Illugi. "Help me to lift it on to my +shoulder, and I will carry it up the ladder." + +Grettir spurned the log with his foot, saying, "I do not like the looks +of it, Little brother. Runes are cut on it, and what they portend I do +not know. There may be written there something that may bring ill. Who +can tell but this log may have been sent with ill wishes against us." +They set the log adrift, and Grettir warned his brother not to bring it +to their fire. + +In the evening they returned to their cabin, and nothing was said about +the log to Glaum. Next day they found the same beam washed up not far +from the foot of the ladder. Grettir was dissatisfied, and again he +thrust it from the shore, saying that he hoped they had seen the last of +it, and that the stream and tide would catch it and waft it elsewhere. +And now the equinoctial gales began to rage. The fine Martinmas summer +was over. The weather changed to storm and rain; and so bad was it that +the three men remained indoors till their supply of firewood was +exhausted. + +Then Grettir ordered the thrall to search the shore for fuel. Glaum +started up with an angry remonstrance that the weather was not such as a +dog should be turned out in, with unreason, not considering that a fire +was as necessary to him as to his master. He went to the ladder, +crawled down it, and found the same beam cast at its very foot. + +Glad not to have to go far in his search, Glaum shouldered the log, +crept up the ladder, bore it to the hut, and throwing open the door, +cast it down in the midst. + +Grettir jumped up, "Well done," said he, "you have been quick in your +quest." + +"Now I have brought it, you must chop it up," said Glaum. "I have done +my part." + +Grettir took his axe. The fire was low and wanted replenishing, and +without paying much attention to the log, he swung his axe and brought +it down on the log. But the wood was wet and greasy with sea-weed, and +the axe slipped, glanced off the beam, and cut into Grettir’s leg below +the knee, on the shin, with such force that it stuck in the bone. + +Grettir looked at the beam; the fire leaped up, and by its light the +runic inscription on it was visible. Grettir at once saw evil. "The +worst is come upon us," he said sadly, as he cast the axe away, and +threw himself down by the fire. "This is the same log that I have twice +rejected. Glaum, you have done us two ill turns, first when you +neglected the fire and let it go out, and now in that you have brought +this beam to us. Beware how you commit a third, for that I foresee will +be your bane as well as ours." + +Illugi bound up his brother’s wound with rag; there was but a slight +flow of blood, but it was an ugly gash. That night Grettir slept +soundly. For three days and nights he was without pain, and the wound +seemed to be healing healthily, the skin to be forming over it. + +"My dear brother," said Illugi, "I do not think that this cut will +trouble you long." + +"I hope not," answered Grettir. "But none can see where a road leads +till they have gone through to the end." + +On the fourth evening they laid them down to sleep as usual. About +midnight the lad, Illugi, awoke hearing Grettir tossing in his bed as +though suffering. + +"Why are you so uneasy?" asked the boy. + +Grettir replied that he felt great pain in his leg, and he thought, he +said, that some change must have taken place in the condition of the +wound. + +Illugi at once blew up the embers on the hearth into a flame, and by its +light examined his brother’s leg. He found that the foot was swollen +and discoloured, and that the wound had reopened, and looked far more +angry than he had seen it yet. Intense pain ensued, so that poor Grettir +could not remain quiet for a moment, but tossed from side to side. His +cheeks were fevered, and his tongue parched. He could obtain no sleep +at all. + +Illugi never left him, he sat beside him holding his hand, or bringing +him water to slake his unquenchable thirst. + +"The worst approaches, and there is no avoiding it," said Grettir. +"This sickness is sent by the old witch in revenge for the stone I had +cast at her." + +"I misliked the casting of that stone," said Illugi. + +"It was ill that it did not fall on her head," said Grettir. "But what +is done may not be undone." Then he heaved himself up into a sitting +posture and sang, supporting himself against his brother’s shoulder, a +lay, of which only fragments have come down to us. A good deal of the +lay refers to incidents in Grettir’s life, of which no record remains in +the saga, and many staves have fallen away and been lost. So we give +but a few verses:— + + "I fought with the sword in the bye-gone day, + In the day when I was young; + When the Rovers I slew in old Norway, + The land with my action rung. + + "I entered the grave of Karr the Old, + I rived his sword away; + I strove with the Troll at Thorod’s-stead, + Before the break of day. + + "With Thorbiorn Oxmain in the marsh + I fought, and his blood I shed; + Against Thorir of Garth have I stood in arms, + Who long would have me dead. + + "For nineteen years, I a hunted man, + On mountain, on moor, and fen; + For nineteen years had to shun and flee + The face of my fellow men. + + "For nineteen years all bitter to bear + Both hunger and cold and pain; + And never to know when I laid me down, + If I might awake again. + + "And now do I lie with a burning eye, + As a wolf is fain to die; + Whilst the skies are dripping and ocean roars, + And the winds sob sadly by—" + + +The song was probably composed before, as otherwise it is not easy to +account for its preservation. His head was burning, his thoughts +wandered, and he ceased singing. He seemed to be dozing off. But +presently he started and shivered, and looked hastily about him. + +"Let us be cautious now," he said, "for Thorbiorn Hook will make another +attempt. To me it matters little—but to you, brother. Glaum, watch the +ladder by day, and draw it up at night. Be a faithful servant, for now +all depends on you. Illugi will not leave me, so we are in your hands." + + + + + *CHAPTER XLI.* + + *THE END OF THE OUTLAW.* + + + _The Shadow of Death—Thorbiorn and his Foster-mother—The Hook + sails for Drangey—Out in the Gale—The Unguarded Ladder—Glaum is + Captured—The Brothers’ last Evening—Defending the Hut—Grettir + Wounded—Illugi Taken—The Notch in the Sword—Illugi vows + Vengeance—Death of Illugi_ + + +The weather became daily worse, and a fierce north-east wind raged over +the country, bearing with it cold and sleet, and covering the fells with +the first snows of winter. Grettir inquired every night if the ladder +had been drawn up, according to order. Glaum answered churlishly, "How +can you expect folk to live out in such a storm as this? Do you think +they are so eager to kill you that they will jeopardize their lives in +trying to do this? It is easy to see that a little cut was all that +lacked to let your courage leak out." + +Grettir answered, "Go! and do not argue with us; guard the ladder as you +have been bidden!" + +So Illugi drove the churl from the hut every morning, notwithstanding +his angry remonstrances; and Glaum was in the worst of humours. + +The pain became more acute, and the whole leg inflamed and swollen, +signs of mortification appeared, and wounds opened in different parts of +the limb, so that Grettir felt that the shadow of death hung over him. +Illugi sat night and day with his brother’s head on his shoulder, +bathing his forehead, and doing his utmost to console the fleeting +spirit. A week had elapsed since the wound had been made. + +Now, Thorbiorn Hook was at home, ill-pleased at the failure of all his +schemes for dispossessing Grettir of the island. + +One day his foster-mother came to him, and asked whether he were ready +now to pay his final visit to the outlaw? + +Thorbiorn replied that he had paid quite as many visits to him as he +liked, and that he should not go to Drangey again till Grettir left it; +and then, with a sneer he asked his foster-mother whether she wanted to +have her second leg broken, and was not satisfied with the fracture of +one. + +"I will not go to Drangey myself," answered the old woman. "That is +unnecessary. I have sent him my salutation, and by this he has received +it. Speed away now to Drangey, and find how he relishes my message. +But I warn you, you must go now or you will be too late." + +Thorbiorn would not listen; he said that her advice last time had led to +no advantage when he followed it, and that the weather was too bad to go +out in. + +"You need go but this once," said the crone. "The storm is of my +sending, and is sent to work my ends." + +Finally he allowed himself to be persuaded. So he got together men, and +asked his neighbours to help him; and a large vessel was manned. That +is to say, the other farmers consented to lend him men, but none of them +would accompany him themselves. The Hook took twelve of his own men; +his brother, Hialti, lent him three; Erick of Gooddale sent one man; +Tongue-stone furnished him with two; another, named Halldor, let him +have six. Of all these, the only two whose name need be mentioned are +Karr and Vikarr. + +Thorbiorn got a large sailing-boat for his purpose, and started from +Heron-ness. None of the men were in good spirits, as the weather was +bad; moreover, they had no liking for their leader. By dusk the boat +was afloat, the sail spread, and they ran out to sea. As the wind was +from the north-east, they were under the lee of the high cliffs, and +were not exposed to the full violence of the storm. + +Heavy scuds of rain and sleet swept the fiord; the sky was overcast with +whirling masses of vapour, charged with snow, and beneath their shadow +the waters of the firth were black as ink. For one moment the clouds +were parted by the storm, the rowers looked up, and saw the heavens +tinged with the crimson rays of the northern light. A flame ran along +the cordage, and finally settled on the masthead of the vessel, swaying +and dancing with the motion of the boat. It was that electric spark, +which is called in the Mediterranean S. Elmo’s fire. + +A line of white foam marked the base of Drangey; and now and then a +great wave from the mouth of the fiord boomed against the crags, and +shot in spouts of foam high into the air. Along the western shore of +the firth, which was exposed to the full brunt of the gale, the mighty +billows were beaten into white yeasty heaps of water. From the top of +Drangey one tiny spark shone from the window of the hovel where lay the +dying outlaw. + +Now let us look again at Grettir. + +He had been in less pain that day. Illugi had not left him, but +remained faithful at his post. + +The thrall, Glaum, had been sent out as usual to collect fuel and to +watch the ladder, and to draw it up at nightfall. But instead of doing +as he was bidden, the fellow laid himself down at the head of the steps, +under a shelter-hut of turf that had been there erected, and went to +sleep. + +When Thorbiorn and his party reached the shore, they found to their +content that the ladder had not been removed. + +"Good luck attends on those who wait," said The Hook "Now, my fellows! +the journey will not prove as bootless as you expected. Up the ladder +with you! and let us all be cautious and bold!" + +So they ascended, one after the other, The Hook taking the lead. On +reaching the top he looked into the shelter-hut, and there found Glaum, +asleep and snoring. Thorbiorn struck him over the shoulders, and asked +him who he was. + +Glaum turned on his side, rubbed his eyes, and growled forth, "Can you +not leave a poor wretch alone? Never was a man so ill-treated as am I. +I may not even sleep out here in the cold." + +The Hook then knew who this was. "Fool!" shouted he. "Look up, and see +who are come. We are your foes, and intend to kill every one of you." + +Glaum started now to his feet full awake, and shrieked with dismay when +he saw the black figures crowding up from the ladder and surrounding +him. + +"Make no noise," said Thorbiorn Hook. "I give you the choice of two +things; answer the questions I put to you truthfully, or die at once." + +The churl answered sullenly that he would speak, and he had nothing to +conceal. + +"Then tell me where the brothers are?" + +"In the hovel I left them, where there is a fire. Not out in the cold. +Grettir is sick and nigh on death, and Illugi is with him." + +The Hook asked for particulars, and then Glaum told him about the log, +and how Grettir was wounded. Thereat the Hook burst out laughing, and +said, "Woe to the man that leans on a churl! That is a true proverb. +Shamefully have you betrayed your trust, Glaum." + +Thereupon Glaum was dragged along to the cabin where Grettir lay, and +they treated him so roughly, that what with their blows and what with +fear, he was nearly senseless when he reached it. + +Illugi had been sitting by the fire with his brother’s head in his lap, +whilst Grettir lay in some sheepskins beside the hearth. All that +evening the sick man’s eyes had been wandering about the roof, watching +the light play among the rafters, as the firewood blazed up or +smouldered away. Illugi saw that his fingers plucked at the wool of the +sheep-skins, riving it out, and that he knew was a bad sign. He felt +sure that Grettir would die that night, and he watched his face +intently, and could not bear to withdraw his eyes from him, for he loved +him dearly. Presently Grettir turned his head, and smiled when he saw +how he was watching him, and said that he felt easier, and would sleep. +In a few moments his eyes closed. + +As he dozed, his face became calmer than Illugi had seen it before; the +muscles relaxed, and the wrinkles furrowed in his brow by care and +suffering were now smoothed quite away. Grettir’s face was never +handsome, but it was grave and earnest, and the sorrow and trial he had +passed through had left its trace on his features. His breath now came +more evenly in sleep. + +All at once there sounded a crash at the door, and the sleeper opened +his eyes dreamily. + +"It is only the old ram, brother," said Illugi. "He is butting, because +he wants to come in." + +"He butts hard! he butts hard!" muttered Grettir, and at that moment the +door burst open. They saw faces looking in. + +Illugi was on his feet in a moment. He seized his sword, flew to the +doorway and defended it bravely, so that no one could pass through. + +Thorbiorn called to some of the men to get upon the roof, and he was +obeyed. The hovel was low, and in a moment four or five were on top of +it tearing off the turf that covered it. Grettir tried to rise to his +feet, but could only stagger to his knees. He seized his spear and drove +it through the roof, so that it struck Karr in the breast, and the wound +was his death. + +Thorbiorn Hook called to the men to act more warily—they were +twenty-five in all against two men, and one dying. + +So the men pulled at the gable ends of the house and got the ridge-piece +out, that it broke and fell, and with it a shower of turfs, into the +hut. + +Grettir drew his short-sword—the sword he had taken from the barrow of +Karr the Old—and smote at the men as they leaped upon him from the wall. +With one blow he struck Vikarr over the left shoulder, as he was on the +point of springing down. The sword cut off his arm. But the blow was so +violent, that Grettir, having dealt it, fell forward, and before he +could raise himself Thorbiorn Hook struck him between the shoulders, and +made a fearful wound. + +Then cried Grettir, "Bare is the back without brother behind it!" and +instantly Illugi threw his shield over him, planted one foot on each +side of him as he lay on the floor, and defended him with desperate +courage. + +[Illustration: ILLUGI DEFENDS THE DYING GRETTIR.] + +The mist of death was in Grettir’s eyes; he attempted in vain to raise +himself, but sank again on the sheep-skins, which were now drenched in +blood. + +No one could touch him, for the brave boy warded off every blow that was +aimed at his brother. + +Then Thorbiorn Hook ordered his men to form a ring round and close in on +them with their shields and with beams. They did so, and Illugi was +taken and bound; but not till he had wounded most of his opponents, and +had killed three of Thorbiorn’s men. + +"Never have I seen one braver of your age," said The Hook. "I will say +that you have fought well." + +Then they went to Grettir, who lay where he had fallen, unable to resist +further, for he had lost consciousness. They dealt him many a blow, but +hardly any blood flowed from his wounds. When all supposed he was dead, +then Thorbiorn tried to disengage the sword from his cold fingers, +saying that he considered Grettir had wielded it long enough. But the +strong man’s hand was clenched around the handle so firmly that his +enemy could not free the sword from his grasp. + +Several of the men came up, and tried to unweave the fingers, but were +unable to do so. Then the Hook said, "Why should we spare this wretched +outlaw? Off with his hand!" And his men held down the arm whilst +Thorbiorn hewed off the hand at the wrist with his axe. + +After that, standing over the body, and grasping the hilt of the sword +in both hands, he smote at Grettir’s head; the edge of the blade was +notched by the blow. + +"Look!" laughed Thorbiorn. "This notch will be famous in story for many +generations; for men will point to it and say, ’This was made by +Grettir’s skull.’" He struck twice and thrice at the outlaw’s neck, +till the head came off in his hands. + +"Now have I slain a notable man!" exclaimed Thorbiorn. "I will take +this head with me to land, and claim the price that was set on it; and +none shall deny that it was my hand that slew that Grettir whom all else +feared." + +The men present said he might say what he liked, but that they believed +Grettir was already dead when he smote him. + +Thorbiorn now turned to Illugi, and said, "It is a pity that a brave lad +like you should die, because you are associated with outlaws and +evil-doers." + +"I tell you this," said Illugi, "that I will appear before you at the +great assize, and there will charge you with having practised witchcraft +to effect my brother’s death." + +"You hearken to me, boy," said Thorbiorn. "Put your hand to mine, and +swear that you will not seek to avenge the death of your brother, and I +will let you go; but if you will not take this oath, you shall die." + +"And hearken to me, Thorbiorn," said lllugi. "If I live, but one thought +shall occupy my heart night and day, and that will be how I may best +avenge my brother. Now that you know what to expect of me—take what +course you will." + +Thorbiorn drew his companions aside to ask their advice; but they +shrugged their shoulders, and replied that, as he had planned the +expedition, he must carry it out as he thought best. + +"Well," said The Hook, "I have no fancy for having the young viper lying +in wait to sting me wherever I tread. He shall die." + +Now, when Illugi knew that they had determined on slaying him, he smiled +and said, "You have chosen that course which is best to my mind. I do +not desire to be parted from my brother." + +The day was breaking. They led Illugi to the east side of the island, +and there they slew him. + +It is told that they neither bound his eyes nor his hands, and that he +looked fearlessly at them when they smote him, and neither changed +colour nor even blinked. + +Then they buried the brothers beneath a cairn in the island, but they +took the head of Grettir and bore it to land. On the way they also slew +the thrall Glaum. + + + + + *CHAPTER XLII.* + + *HOW ASDIS RECEIVED THE NEWS.* + + + _A Charge of Witchcraft—A Heroic Mother—Thorbiorn’s + Sentence—Burial of the Brothers_ + + +Had the old hag, Thorbiorn’s foster-mother, any hand in the death of +Grettir? Certainly none. It was true that Grettir was wounded in the +way described, by his own axe, but the condition of the wound was due to +the scorbutic condition of his blood, through lack of green food. This +the Icelanders did not understand; they could not comprehend how a wound +could seem to be healing well and then break out and mortify afterwards, +and they supposed that this was due to witchcraft. Then, again, +Grettir’s kin could not take the case of Grettir’s murder into court, +because Thorbiorn had acted within the law when killing him; but by +charging him with the practice of witchcraft they made him amenable to +the law. So, partly, no doubt, in good faith, they trumped up against +Thorbiorn the accusation of having effected Grettir’s death by +witchcraft. + +Now, it must be told how that, one day after the slaying of Grettir, +Thorbiorn Hook at the head of twenty armed men rode to Biarg, in the +Midfirth-dale, with Grettir’s head slung from his saddlebow. On reaching +the house he dismounted and strode into the hall, where Grettir’s mother +was seated with a servant. Thorbiorn threw her son’s head at her feet, +and said: "See! I have been to the island and have prevailed." + +The lady sat proudly in her seat, and did not shed a tear; but lifting +her voice in reply, she sang: + + "Milk-sop—as timid sheep + Before a fox all cow’ring keep; + So did you—nor could prevail + So long as Grettir’s strength was hale. + Woe is on the Northland side, + Nor can I my loathing hide!" + + +After this The Hook returned home, and folk wondered at Asdis, saying +that only a heroic mother could have had sons so heroic. When Yule was +over The Hook rode east away to Garth, and told Thorir what he had done, +and claimed the money set on Grettir’s head. + +But Thorir was crafty, and just as the Biarg folk sought a charge +against Thorbiorn for his deed, so did Thorir, that he might escape +having to pay the silver. He answered, "I do not deny that I offered +the money on Grettir’s head, promising it to whomsoever should slay +Grettir, but I will pay nothing to him who compassed his death by +witchcraft; and if what the men who went with you say be true, you did +not slay him with a sword, but hacked off his head after he was dead." + +This made Thorbiorn Hook very angry, and when summer came he brought his +suit against Thorir for the money. But simultaneously Grettir’s kin +brought a charge against Thorbiorn for having practised witchcraft. +Also they had a summons against him for the slaying of Illugi. Now, the +case was tried, and hotly discussed, and it ended this way:—It was +judged that Thorbiorn had struck off the head of a man who was already +dead, and that he had brought about the death of that man by witchcraft; +thereupon it was judged that he should receive nothing of the money, and +that he should be outlawed from Iceland. + +So he went away and never returned. + +Now, Grettir and Illugi were brought to land, and their bones lie at +Reykir, where was the friendly farmer who had helped them when they were +at Drangey. But Grettir’s head was buried at Biarg. There is now no +church or churchyard there, but there is a mound in the _tún_ where his +head is said to lie. I obtained leave to dig there, and I examined the +spot, but found only a great stone under the turf, and this we had not +the appliances to move. And perhaps it was as well; for if Grettir’s +head be there, it were better that there it should rest undisturbed. + + + + + *CHAPTER XLIII.* + + *HOW DROMUND KEPT HIS WORD.* + + + _Thorbiorn Hook in Norway—Dromund on Thorbiorn’s Track—The + Varangians—Grettir’s Sword—Grettir is Avenged_ + + +Now, after that Thorbiorn Hook had been outlawed, he found that he had +gotten to himself no advantage, but great harm by what he had done upon +Drangey. He was forced to leave Iceland; and he saw, withal, that never +again might he set foot therein again with safety, for all the relatives +of the Biarg family would seek his life. Accordingly he made over his +farm at Woodwick to his brother Hialti, and also all his rights over the +island of Drangey, such as they were. Then he collected together what +moveable goods he had, and went on board ship and sailed for Norway. + +On reaching Norway he bragged much of what he had done in having slain +Grettir, of whom tales were told in Norway; and, as may well be +understood, he told the tale of the slaying of Grettir in his own way, +magnifying his heroism, and saying nothing about such matters as +lessened the greatness of his deed. + +During the early winter tidings reached Thorstein Dromund at Tunsberg +that his brother Grettir was dead, and also that the man who slew him +was in the north of the country. When Dromund heard the tidings he was +very sorrowful, and he called to mind the words he had said to Grettir +when they showed each other what sort of arms they had. Dromund +considered that he was bound to avenge his brother’s death on his +murderer. + +Thorbiorn Hook also was aware that there was a half-brother of Grettir +in Norway, and when he knew that he was wary, for he suspected that +Dromund would seek his life. And, indeed, Thorstein Dromund sent spies +to watch Thorbiorn Hook; but the latter was so careful of himself that +Dromund was not able to attempt anything against him all that winter. +No sooner did the soft, warm, spring breezes begin to blow, than The +Hook got away out of Norway by the earliest opportunity. He had heard +much talk how that the Emperors of the East, at Constantinople, kept a +guard of Norsemen about them, and paid them well, and how that this +guard was held in high esteem. So Thorbiorn Hook considered he could +not do better than go to Constantinople, and try his fortune there. But +before he left Norway he talked of his intention, and this was reported +to Dromund at Tunsberg. So Dromund put his lands and affairs into the +hands of his kinsmen, and got ready for journeying in search of Hook, +whom he had never seen. + +He sailed away after him, and wherever he came he made inquiries after +the ship in which Thorbiorn Hook had been, and he was always just too +late. He never could catch the ship up. And then finally Thorbiorn left +the vessel and journeyed overland, and Thorstein lost his traces. + +However, Dromund knew that Thorbiorn Hook was going to Constantinople, +so he travelled thither also, and reached the imperial city. Now there +were a great many Norsemen and Icelanders there in the company called +the Varangians, who acted as a bodyguard to the Emperor, and among these +men were some twenty or more called Thorbiorn, and which among them was +the murderer of Grettir, Thorstein Dromund did not know. The Hook, as +may well be imagined, did not tell anyone what his nickname was; not +that he imagined he was pursued, but because it was not a pretty and +flattering name. Thorstein also offered himself as a soldier in the +guard, and was enrolled. He also merely gave his name as Thorstein, and +told no one of his nickname of Dromund, lest the man he pursued should +take alarm and leave. + +So time passed, and Thorstein Dromund could not find out his man; and he +lay awake in bed many nights musing on what he had undertaken, on the +sad lot of Grettir, and on his ill-success in finding the murderer of +his half-brother. Now, it fell out that on a certain day the order came +to the Varangian guard that they were to be ready, as they were about to +be sent on an expedition of importance. + +It was usual, before any such an expedition, that all the men of the +guard should burnish up their weapons and armour, and show them, that +they were in condition. + +So was it on this occasion also. They were assembled in the guard-room, +and each produced his weapon. Then Thorbiorn held forth his +short-sword—the very weapon that Grettir had taken from the tomb of Karr +the Old, the sword with which he The Hook had hewed off Grettir’s head. + +Now, when Thorbiorn held forth the sword all the other guardsmen praised +it, and said it was an excellent weapon; but it had one grievous +blemish, for that there was a notch in the edge. + +"Oh!" laughed Thorbiorn, "that notch is no blemish at all. It is a +memorial of one of my greatest achievements." + +"What was that?" asked one of the Varangians. + +"With this sword," answered Thorbiorn, "I slew the man who was esteemed +the greatest and most powerful champion of his time; a man who was in +outlawry for twenty years, who had in his time fought and beaten off as +many as thirty or forty who attacked him. But I was too much for him. +When I went against him, then he had to give way. We fought for an hour +without flagging, and finally I smote him down. Then I took from him +his own sword, and with it I smote off his neck; and thus got the sword +its notch." + +"And his name?" asked Thorstein Dromund. + +"His name was Grettir the Strong." + +There was a pause; and in that pause the sword was handed to Dromund for +him to look at. + +"Thus is Grettir avenged!" suddenly exclaimed Dromund. He struck across +the table at Thorbiorn with Grettir’s own sword; and so great was the +stroke that it smote through his skull to the jaw-teeth, and The Hook +fell without a word, dead. + +It was said, in after times, that Grettir was wonderful in his life, and +wonderful in his death—for in life no man had been his equal in +strength, and had had a sadder span of life; and in death he was +wonderful—for of all Icelanders he was the only one who was avenged far +away from home by the shores of the Bosphorus, in the City of the +Emperors. + + + + + *EPILOGUE.* + + + _Date of Grettir’s Death—Mention of Grettir in other + Sagas—Historical Basis of the Grettir Story_ + + +In the Icelandic annals the death of Grettir is set down as having +occurred in 1033, but the dates are not quite correct, and the real date +should be 1031. + +Grettir is mentioned in other Icelandic sagas. He is spoken of and his +pedigree given in the Landnama Book, the Icelandic Domesday, the most +reliable book for history they have. The persons spoken of in the saga +of Grettir are heard of in several other quite independent sagas, and in +no case is there any serious anachronism. + +Grettir, it will be recalled, was taken by the farmers in the Ice-firth. +This incident is also related in the saga of the Foster-brothers; so is +another incident about a contest concerning a dead whale I have not +related, as likely to break the continuity of the history. In the saga +of Thord, the hero is said to have blessed the Middle-firth in these +words: "Let the man who grows up in this vale never be hung." And this +blessing was thought to have had something to do with the saving of +Grettir’s neck in the Ice-firth. The story of Gisli has been told whom +Grettir whipped. Now, in the Viga-styr saga, the most ancient of all +Icelandic sagas, we hear of this same Gisli, and his character is +painted in the same colours as in the saga of Grettir, but no mention is +made of the whipping administered by Grettir. The murder of Atli, the +brother of our outlaw, and the consequent slaying of Thorbiorn Oxmain is +spoken of in the saga of Bard. The circumstance of Grettir having lived +in a cave on the farm in Hit-dale is spoken of in the saga of Biorn. In +the history of Grettir mention is made of the strife which took place +between Biorn and Thord, but the full particulars of what is there +alluded to casually are given in the saga of Biorn of Hit-dale. In our +saga, Grettir is spoken of as meeting Bard wounded after a hard fight, +in which he had avenged the death of his brother, but no particulars are +given. In the saga of the Heath-fights we recover the whole story. Thus +one saga explains and supports another. + +It is therefore impossible to set down the story of Grettir as fabulous. +It is historical; but the history has been somewhat embellished, partly +by family vanity which led to the undue glorification of their hero, and +partly by superstition which imagined the marvellous where all was +really natural. + + + + THE END. + + + + + Transcriber’s note: + + The source book’s pages had variant headers. These headers have + been collected into the introductory paragraph at the start of + each chapter. + + + + + + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GRETTIR THE OUTLAW *** + + + + +A Word from Project Gutenberg + + +We will update this book if we find any errors. + +This book can be found under: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/48622 + +Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright +law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, so +the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United +States without permission and without paying copyright royalties. +Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this +license, apply to copying and distributing Project Gutenberg™ electronic +works to protect the Project Gutenberg™ concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you charge +for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. 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