Njal's Saga (22 page)

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

After this Thorgeir went home and told his father this in private. They agreed between themselves that they should go ahead with the plan secretly.

Soon after this Thorgeir Starkadarson from Kirkjubaer went to call on the other Thorgeir and they went aside for a talk and spent the whole day talking quietly. When they finished, Thorgeir Starkadarson gave Thorgeir Otkelsson a spear inlaid with gold and then rode home. They had made a very friendly alliance.

At the Thingskalar Assembly that autumn Kolskegg laid claim to the land at Moeidarhvol and Gunnar named witnesses and offered to pay
to the people at Thrihyrning either money or another piece of land, at a legally determined value. Thorgeir then named witnesses to the charge that Gunnar had broken the settlement with them. After that the Assembly was over.

A year passed. The two Thorgeirs met often, and there was great warmth between them.

Kolskegg spoke to Gunnar: ‘I've been told that Thorgeir Otkelsson and Thorgeir Starkadarson have become great friends, and many people are saying that they are not to be trusted, and I'd like you to be on your guard.'

‘Death will come to me no matter where I am,' said Gunnar, ‘if that is my fate.'

With this they stopped talking.

In the autumn Gunnar gave orders that his people should work one week at home at Hlidarendi and the next week down at Eyjar and finish the haymaking this way. He also said that everybody should leave the farm except himself and the women.

Thorgeir at Thrihyrning went to see the other Thorgeir, and as soon as they met the two of them started talking, as they usually did. Thorgeir Starkadarson said, ‘I'd like us to gather our courage and attack Gunnar.'

‘Clashes with Gunnar have always ended the same way,' said Thorgeir Otkelsson: ‘few have gained from them – and besides, I would not like to be known as a truce-violator.'

‘They broke the settlement, not we,' said Thorgeir Starkadarson. ‘Gunnar took your grainfield from you, and he took Moeidarhvol from my father and me.'

Then they made an agreement between themselves to attack Gunnar. Thorgeir said that Gunnar would be at home alone in a few days – ‘and then you must bring eleven men to meet me, and I'll have the same number.'

Then he rode home.

When Kolskegg and the servants had been at Eyjar for three days, Thorgeir Starkadarson found out about it and sent word to the other Thorgeir to meet him at Thrihyrning ridge. Then he made ready to leave the farm at Thrihyrning with eleven men. He rode up to the ridge and waited for his namesake.

Gunnar was now alone at his farm. The two Thorgeirs rode into a wood; heaviness came over them and they could do nothing but sleep.
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They fastened their shields to the branches, tied their horses and placed their weapons by their sides.

Njal was over at Thorolfsfell for the night and was unable to sleep and kept walking in and out of the house. Thorhild asked Njal why he couldn't sleep.

‘Many things are passing before my eyes,' he said. ‘I see the fierce personal spirits of many of Gunnar's enemies, but there is something strange about them – they seem in a frenzy but act without purpose.'

Shortly after this a man rode to the door and dismounted and went in; it was the shepherd of Skarphedin and Thorhild.

Thorhild said, ‘Did you find the sheep?'

‘I found something of greater importance,' he said.

‘What was that?'said Njal.

‘I found twenty-four men up in the woods,' he said. ‘They had tied their horses and were sleeping. They had fastened their shields to the branches.'

He had studied them so closely that he was able to describe all their weapons and clothing.

Then Njal knew exactly who each of them was, and he said to him, ‘What good hiring, if there were many like you! You will always benefit from this, but now I want to send you on an errand.'

The shepherd agreed to go.

‘Go to Hlidarendi,' said Njal, ‘and tell Gunnar to go to Grjota and send for men, and I will go to those men in the woods and frighten them away. This is moving nicely along – they'll gain nothing in this venture and lose much.'

The shepherd went off and told Gunnar all that had happened. Gunnar then rode to Grjota and they sent for men to come there.

To return to Njal: he rode off to where the two Thorgeirs were.

‘It's careless to be lying around here,' he said. ‘What's this expedition all about? Gunnar is not a man to be pushed around, and if the truth be told, this is the lowest sort of plot to kill. You'd better know that Gunnar is gathering forces and will soon come here and kill you, unless you get away and ride home.'

This struck terror into them and they acted quickly and took their weapons and mounted their horses and galloped back to Thrihyrning.

Njal went to Gunnar and asked him not to break up his band. ‘I will act as go-between and try to make a settlement. They are properly frightened now. Since all of them are implicated, the payment for this plot against your life must be no less than a payment for the slaying of either of the Thorgeirs, should that occur. I'll hold on to the money and see to it that it's ready for you if you need it'

Gunnar thanked him for his help. Njal rode to Thrihyrning and told the two Thorgeirs that Gunnar would not break up his band of men until matters between them had been concluded. They made offers and were very frightened and asked Njal to go back with offers of settlement. Njal said he would only go back with offers that had no deceit behind them. They asked Njal to take part in the arbitration and promised to stand by whatever settlement he made. Njal said he would only do so at the Thing, and only if the best men were there. They agreed to this.

Njal then acted as go-between, until each side pledged peace and reconciliation to the other. Njal was to arbitrate and to choose those he wanted to help him.

Shortly after this the two Thorgeirs went to Mord Valgardsson. Mord rebuked them strongly for having turned over the matter to Njal, since he was Gunnar's great friend; he said that this would not turn out well.

*

People rode to the Althing as usual. Both sides were there. Njal called for silence and asked all the best men who had come there what claim they thought Gunnar had against the two Thorgeirs for the plot on his life. They answered that such a man had great right on his side. Njal asked whether he should charge all of them or whether only the leaders would have to answer. They said that it would fall mostly on the leaders, but that all of them were much to blame.

‘Many people will say,' said Mord, ‘that they didn't act without cause, since Gunnar broke a settlement with the Thorgeirs.'

‘It's not breaking a settlement,' said Njal, ‘if a man deals lawfully with another – with law our land shall rise, but it will perish with lawlessness.'

Then Njal told them that Gunnar had offered land or other payment for Moeidarhvol. The Thorgeirs then felt deceived by Mord and rebuked him strongly and said that the fine would be his fault.

Njal chose twelve men to judge the case. Every man who had gone along with the Thorgeirs was made to pay a hundred in silver, and the Thorgeirs had to pay two hundreds each. Njal took the money and kept it, and each side made pledges of peace and loyalty to the other, saying the words after Njal.

From the Althing Gunnar rode west to Hjardarholt in Dalir. Olaf Peacock welcomed him; he stayed there for half a month. He travelled widely around Dalir, and everybody welcomed him gladly.

At their parting Olaf said, ‘I want to give you three gifts – a gold ring, a cloak which King Myrkjartan of Ireland once owned, and a dog which was given to me in Ireland. He is large and no worse as a companion than a strong man. He also has the intelligence of a man – he will bark at anyone he knows to be your enemy, but never at your friends. He can also see in any man whether he means you well or ill, and he will lay down his life out of loyalty to you. The dog's name is Sam.'

Then he said to the dog, ‘Go with Gunnar now and serve him the best you can.'

The dog went at once to Gunnar and lay down at his feet.

Olaf asked Gunnar to be on his guard, and told him that he had
many who envied him – ‘since you are thought to be the most outstanding man in the whole land.'

Gunnar thanked him for his gifts and sound advice and rode home. He stayed at home for a while, and all was quiet.

Shortly after this the two Thorgeirs met with Mord. The three of them were not in harmony. The Thorgeirs thought they had lost a lot of money because of Mord and had nothing in return, and they asked him to come up with another plan for doing harm to Gunnar.

Mord said that he would – ‘and now my advice is that you, Thorgeir Otkelsson, seduce Ormhild, Gunnar's kinswoman,
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and Gunnar's hatred for you will be even greater. I will then spread a rumour that Gunnar won't put up with these doings of yours. Soon after this the two of you must attack Gunnar, but not at his home, because no one will risk that as long as his dog is alive.'

They agreed among themselves that this plan should be carried out.

The summer continued to its end. Thorgeir made a habit of visiting Ormhild. Gunnar was not at all pleased at this, and great antipathy arose between them. This went on all winter long. Summer returned, and the secret meetings became even more frequent.

Thorgeir Starkadarson from Thrihyrning often met with Mord and they planned an attack against Gunnar at the time when he would ride down to Eyjar to oversee the work of his farmhands. One day Mord found out that Gunnar was riding down there, and he sent a man to Thrihyrning to tell Thorgeir that this was the right moment to go after him. Thorgeir and his men acted quickly and went down, twelve men in all. When they came to Kirkjubaer there were thirteen men waiting. They discussed where they should ambush Gunnar and agreed to go to the Ranga river and wait for him there.

When Gunnar rode up from Eyjar, Kolskegg rode with him. Gunnar had his bow and arrows and his halberd. Kolskegg had his short sword and was fully armed.

Now it happened, as they were riding up to the Ranga, that a great deal of blood appeared on the halberd. Kolskegg asked what this meant, and Gunnar said that when such a thing happened in other lands it was called ‘wound rain' – ‘Olvir told me that it was a sign of great battles.'
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They went on riding until they saw men beside the river; they had tied their horses and were waiting.

Gunnar said, ‘It's an ambush!'

Kolskegg answered, ‘They've been untrustworthy for a long time. What are we going to do now?'

‘Let's ride past them to the ford,' said Gunnar, ‘and make our stand there.'

The others saw this and turned after them. Gunnar put a string to his bow, took out his arrows and threw them before him on the ground, and started shooting as soon as they were within range. He wounded many men this way, and killed a few.

Thorgeir Otkelsson said, ‘This isn't doing us any good. Let's attack as hard as we can.'

They did this. In the forefront was Onund the Fair, a kinsman of Thorgeir Otkelsson. Gunnar thrust at him with his halberd; it struck his shield and split it in two and passed through him. Ogmund Floki rushed at Gunnar from behind, but Kolskegg saw this and cut off both his legs and pushed him out into the river, and he drowned at once. The fight then became fierce. Gunnar slashed with one hand and thrust with the other. Kolskegg killed a good number of men and wounded many others.

Thorgeir Starkadarson spoke to the other Thorgeir: ‘There's not much sign that you have a father to avenge.'

He answered, ‘It's true that I haven't made much progress, but you haven't exactly been close on my heels – and now I won't take any more of your taunts.'

He ran at Gunnar in great anger and thrust his spear through the shield and through Gunnar's arm. Gunnar twisted the shield so hard that the spear broke apart at the socket. Gunnar saw another man come within reach of his sword and struck him his death blow and
then seized the halberd in both hands. Thorgeir Otkelsson had meanwhile moved in close, with his sword at the ready. Gunnar turned towards him quickly in great anger and thrust his halberd through him and lifted him up and threw him out into the river, and the body drifted down to the ford and was stopped there by a boulder. That place has since been known as Thorgeir's ford.

Thorgeir Starkadarson said, ‘Let's get away from here! We've no hope of winning at this rate.'

They all turned away.

‘Let's go after them,' said Kolskegg. ‘Bring your bow and arrows and get within shooting distance of Thorgeir.'

Gunnar said, ‘Our purses will be empty enough by the time compensation has been paid for the ones already lying dead.'

‘You won't be short of money' said Kolskegg. ‘But Thorgeir won't stop until he has caused your death.'

‘There will have to be a few more like him in my path before I take fright,' said Gunnar.

They rode home and told what had happened. Hallgerd was pleased at the news and praised them for what they did.

Rannveig spoke: ‘It may be that what they did was good, but I expect that bad rather than good will come of it'