Njal's Saga (12 page)

One man answered, ‘I saw, coming out from under his sleeve, gold lace and red cloth, and on his right hand he had a gold ring.'

Hoskuld said, ‘This bear was the personal spirit of none other than Gunnar of Hlidarendi. Now, after the fact, I see it all. Let's ride to Hrutsstadir.'

They all went out and over to Hrutsstadir and knocked on the door, and a man came and unlocked it; they went in at once. Hrut was lying in his bed closet and asked who had come. Hoskuld told him and asked what guests were there.

He said, ‘Peddler-Hedin is here.'

Hoskuld said, ‘His back was broader than that; my guess is that it's Gunnar of Hlidarendi.'

‘In that case there's been some outsmarting here,' said Hrut.

‘What happened?' said Hoskuld.

‘I told him how to take up Unn's suit. I summoned myself, and he recited the summons after me. He will use this as a first step in the suit, and it will be legitimate.'

‘One of you has been much cleverer than the other,' said Hoskuld, ‘but Gunnar did not come up with this by himself. Njal must have planned it all – no one is his match for cleverness.'

They searched for Hedin, but he was already gone. Then they gathered men and searched for three days, but could not find him.

Gunnar rode southwards from the mountain to Haukadal, east of the pass, and then north to Holtavarda heath and did not rest until he came home. He went to Njal and told him that the plan had worked well.

Gunnar rode to the Althing. Hrut and Hoskuld also rode there, with many others. Gunnar began prosecuting the case and summoned neighbours as witnesses. Hrut and his men intended to attack him, but did not trust themselves to do so. Gunnar then went to the Breidafjord court and requested that Hrut listen to him swear his oath and to his presentation of the charges and the evidence. After that he swore his oath and presented the charges, and then brought forth his witnesses to the summons and to the taking over of the suit. Njal was not present at the court.

Gunnar continued the case to the point where he invited the other side to make its defence. Hrut named witnesses and declared that the suit was invalid because Gunnar had failed to present three witnessed statements that should have come before the court: the first at the
bedpost, the second at the main door, and the third at the Law Rock.

Njal had now come to the court, and he said he would be able to revive the suit and the case if they wanted to go on with it.

‘I don't want to,' said Gunnar, ‘and I will give Hrut the same choice that he gave to my kinsman Mord. Are the brothers Hrut and Hoskuld close enough to hear what I'm saying?'

‘We can hear you,' said Hrut. ‘What do you want?'

Gunnar spoke: ‘Let those listening here be witnesses that I challenge you, Hrut, to a duel, to be fought today on the island in the Oxara river. If you choose not to fight me you must pay over all the money today.'

Then Gunnar left the court, together with all his companions. Hoskuld and Hrut also went away, and from then on the case was neither prosecuted nor defended.

When Hrut came into the booth he said, ‘It has never happened before that a man challenged me to a duel and I refused.'

‘Then you must be planning to fight,' said Hoskuld, ‘but not if I have any say, for you won't do any better against Gunnar than Mord would have done against you, so we'd better pay Gunnar the money, the two of us.'

The brothers then asked their followers what they would contribute, and they all said they would contribute whatever Hrut wanted.

‘Let's go to Gunnar's booth then,' said Hoskuld, ‘and pay out the money.'

They went to Gunnar's booth and called him out. He came to the door with some of his men.

Hoskuld said, ‘Now the money is yours.'

Gunnar said, ‘Give it to me then – I'm ready to take it.'

They paid the full amount readily.

Then Hoskuld spoke: ‘May you enjoy it the same way you have earned it.'

‘We'll enjoy it greatly, because the claim was a just one,' said Gunnar.

Hrut answered, ‘Bad things will be your only reward for this.'

‘Things will go as they must,' said Gunnar.

Hoskuld and his brother went back to their booth. He was very
upset and said to Hrut, ‘Will this threat of force never be avenged against Gunnar?'

‘It will be avenged against him,' said Hrut, ‘but the vengeance and the credit for it will not be ours. It's likely, in fact, that he will turn to our kin for friendship.'

With this they ended their conversation.

Gunnar showed the money to Njal.

‘This has worked out well,' he said.

‘And all because of you,' said Gunnar.

Everybody then rode home from the Thing, and Gunnar had gained much honour from the case. He turned over all the money to Unn and did not want to take any for himself, but said that he could now expect more support from her and her kinsmen than from other men. She said that this was true.

There was a man named Valgard. He lived at Hof on the Ranga river. He was the son of Jorund the Godi, the son of Hrafn the Foolish, the son of Valgard, the son of Aevar, the son of Vemund the Eloquent, the son of Thorolf Pus-nose, the son of Thrand the Old, the son of Harald War-tooth, the son of Hraerek the Ring-scatterer. The mother of Harald War-tooth was Aud, the daughter of Ivar Vidfadmi, the son of Halfdan the Valiant. The brother of Valgard the Grey was Ulf Aur-Godi, from whom the people of Oddi are descended. Ulf Aur-Godi was the father of Svart, the father of Lodmund, the father of Sigfus, the father of Saemund the Learned. From Valgard is descended Kolbein the Young.

The two brothers, Valgard the Grey and Ulf Aur-Godi, went to seek the hand of Unn, and she married Valgard without the advice of her kinsmen. Gunnar and Njal and many others thought badly of this, because Valgard was a devious and unpopular man. They had a son, who was named Mord, and he will be in this saga for a long time. When he was fully grown he was bad to his kinsmen, and to Gunnar worst of all. He was cunning by nature and malicious in counsel.

The sons of Njal must now be named. Skarphedin was the eldest,
a big and strong man and a good fighter. He swam like a seal and was swift of foot, quick to make up his mind and sure of himself; he spoke to the point and was quick to do so, though mostly he was even-tempered. His hair was reddish-brown and curled and he had fine eyes; his face was pale and sharp-featured, with a bent nose, a broad row of upper teeth and an ugly mouth, and yet he was very like a warrior.

Grim was the name of Njal's second son. He was dark-haired and more handsome than Skarphedin, big and strong.

Helgi was the name of Njal's third son. He was a handsome man with a good head of hair; he was strong and a good fighter, clever and even-tempered.

All these sons of Njal were unmarried.

Hoskuld was the name of Njal's fourth son. He was born out of wedlock: his mother was Hrodny, the daughter of Hoskuld and the sister of Ingjald at Keldur.

Njal asked Skarphedin whether he wanted to get married. He told his father to see to it. Njal then asked, on his behalf, for the hand of Thorhild, the daughter of Hrafn from Thorolfsfell, and that was how he came to own a second farm there. Skarphedin married Thorhild, but continued to live with his father. On behalf of Grim Njal asked for the hand of Astrid at Djuparbakki. She was a widow and quite rich. Grim married her, but continued to live with Njal.

There was a man named Asgrim, the son of Ellida-Grim, the son of Asgrim, the son of Ondott Crow. Asgrim's mother was Jorunn, the daughter of Teit, the son of Ketilbjorn the Old from Mosfell. The mother of Teit was Helga, the daughter of Thord Beard, the son of Hrapp, the son of Bjorn Buna. Jorunn's mother was Olof, the daughter of the hersir Bodvar, the son of Viking-Kari. The brother of Asgrim Ellida-Grimsson was named Sigfus; his daughter was Thorgerd, the mother of Sigfus, the father of Saemund the Learned. Gauk Trandilsson, who was a most valiant and accomplished man, was foster-brother to Asgrim, but bad blood arose between them, with the result that Asgrim slew Gauk.
¹

Asgrim had two sons, both named Thorhall and both men of promise. Asgrim also had a son named Grim and a daughter Thor-halla. She was a very beautiful and well-mannered woman, and capable in every way.

Njal came to talk with his son Helgi. ‘I have been thinking of a wife for you, my son, if you're willing to follow my advice.'

‘I'm certainly willing,' he said, ‘for I know that you're both wise and well-meaning. Who have you picked out?'

Njal answered, ‘We'll ask for the hand of the daughter of Asgrim Ellida-Grimsson, for she's the best choice.'

Shortly afterward they set out to ask for her hand and rode west across the Thjorsa river and kept on until they came to Tunga. Asgrim was at home and welcomed them, and they stayed overnight. The next day they began to talk, and then Njal brought up the proposal and asked for Thorhalla's hand on behalf of his son Helgi. Asgrim responded well to that and said there was nobody he would be more eager to make a marriage with than them. They talked about the terms, and the outcome was that Asgrim betrothed his daughter to Helgi and a wedding date was fixed.

Gunnar was present at this wedding feast, as well as many others of the best men.

After the feast Njal offered to be the foster-father to Thorhall Asgrimsson. Thorhall went to Njal's home and stayed with him for a long time. He loved Njal more than his own father. Njal taught him law so well that he became the greatest lawyer in Iceland.

A ship came to the river mouth at Arnarbaeli; its skipper was Hallvard the White, a man from Vik. He went to Hlidarendi and spent the winter with Gunnar and kept telling him that he should go abroad. Gunnar did not speak much about it, but he did not rule it out. When spring came he went to Bergthorshvol and asked Njal whether he thought it wise for him to go abroad.

‘I think it's wise,' said Njal. ‘You will find favour wherever you go.'

‘Will you look after my property while I am away?' said Gunnar. ‘I want my brother Kolskegg to go with me, and I would like you and my mother to run the farm.'

‘That should not stand in your way,' said Njal. ‘I'll take care of whatever you want.'

‘I wish you well,' said Gunnar. Then he rode home.

The Norwegian spoke to Gunnar again about going abroad. Gunnar asked if he had sailed to any other lands. He said he had been to all the lands which lie between Norway and Russia – ‘and I have even sailed to Permia.'

‘Will you sail with me to the Baltic?' said Gunnar.

‘Certainly I will,' he said.

Gunnar then decided to go abroad with him. Njal looked after all of Gunnar's property.

Gunnar went abroad, together with his brother Kolskegg. They sailed to Tunsberg and spent the winter there. There had been a change of rulers in Norway: Harald Grey-cloak and Gunnhild had died, and Earl Hakon Sigurdarson ruled the realm.
¹
His father Sigurd was the son of Hakon, the son of Grjotgard. Hakon's mother was Bergljot, the daughter of Earl Thorir. Her mother, Olof Arbot, was Harald Fair-hair's daughter.

Hallvard asked Gunnar whether he wanted to take service with Earl Hakon.

‘No, I don't,' he said. ‘Do you have a longship?'

‘I have two,' said Hallvard.

‘Then I'd like us to go raiding,' said Gunnar. ‘Let's find men to go with us.'

‘I'd like that,' said Hallvard.

They went to Vik and took over the two ships and made ready to set out. They did well in finding men, for many good things were being said about Gunnar.

‘Where do you want to go first?' said Gunnar.

‘East to Hising,' said Hallvard, ‘to meet my kinsman Olvir.'

‘What do you want with him?' said Gunnar.

‘He's a fine man,' he said, ‘and he'll give us some help for our journey.'

‘Let's go there, then,' said Gunnar.

When they were ready they headed east for Hising and had a good welcome. Gunnar had not been there very long before Olvir was greatly impressed by him. Olvir asked about Gunnar's intentions, and Hallvard said that he wanted to raid and gain wealth.

‘That's not a good idea,' Olvir said. ‘You don't have enough men.'

‘You're free to add to our number,' said Hallvard.

‘I think it's fine to support Gunnar in some way,' said Olvir – ‘you may claim kinship with me, but I count him more of a man than you.'

‘Then what are you willing to contribute?' said Hallvard.

‘Two longships, one with seats for forty and the other with seats for sixty,' said Olvir.

‘Who will man them?' said Hallvard.

‘I'll man one of them with my own men, and the other with farmers. But I've heard news of trouble on the river, and I don't know whether you can get away from here.'

‘Who's in the way?' said Hallvard.

‘Two brothers,' said Olvir, ‘one named Vandil and the other Karl, the sons of Snaeulf the Old from Gotland over in the east.'

Hallvard told Gunnar that Olvir had contributed more ships, and Gunnar was glad at that. They prepared to set out, and when they were ready they went to Olvir and thanked him, and he told them to watch out for the brothers.

Gunnar made his way downriver; he and Kolskegg were on one ship and Hallvard on another. They saw the ships ahead of them.

Gunnar said, ‘Let's make some preparations in case they attack us, but otherwise let's have nothing to do with them.'

They did as he said and made preparations. The Vikings divided their ships into two groups, with a passage between them. Gunnar sailed into it. Vandil picked up a grappling-hook and threw it into
Gunnar's ship and pulled it quickly alongside. Olvir had given Gunnar a good sword, and Gunnar drew it. He had not put on a helmet, but leaped at once into the prow of Vandil's ship and at once killed a man. Karl pulled up his ship on the other side of Gunnar's and threw a spear across it, aimed at Gunnar's waist. Gunnar saw the spear coming at him, and he turned around so quickly that no eye could follow and caught the spear in his left hand and threw it back at Karl's ship, and the man who was in its way was struck dead. Kolskegg picked up the anchor and threw it at Karl's ship and the fluke went all the way through the hull and the coal-black sea came pouring in, and all the men on board leaped onto other ships. Gunnar leaped back to his ship.