Njal's Saga (45 page)

They retreated towards the Vatnsfjord booth. Ljot and Hall were crossing from the east side of the river with all their men. When they came to the lava a spear was thrown from Gudmund's side and hit Ljot in the waist; he fell dead at once, and it was never found out who had done this killing.

Flosi and his men retreated past the Vatnsfjord booth. Thorgeir Skorargeir said, ‘There's Eyjolf Bolverksson, Kari. Reward him for accepting the bracelet.'

Kari said, ‘That's not far from what I've been thinking' – and grabbed a spear and threw it at Eyjolf; it hit him in the waist and went through him. Eyjolf fell down dead at once.

Then there was a lull in the battle. Snorri the Godi arrived with his men and Skafti, and they went at once between the two sides; then they were unable to fight. Hall joined them and also wanted to separate them. A truce was declared for the duration of the Thing. The bodies were laid out and brought to the church, and the wounds of those who were hurt were bound up.

The next day men went to the Law Rock. Hall of Sida stood up and called for silence, and it was given at once.

He spoke: ‘Hard things have happened here, both in loss of life and in lawsuits. I'll show now that I'm a man of no importance. I want to ask Asgrim and the other men who are behind these suits to grant us an even-handed settlement.'

He went on with many eloquent words.

Kari spoke: ‘Even if all the others settle, I shall never settle, because you will want to set these killings against the burning, and we won't stand for that.'

Thorgeir Skorargeir said the same.

Then Skafti Thoroddsson stood up and spoke: ‘You would have done better, Kari, not to have run away from your in-laws than to hold back from a settlement now.'

Kari then spoke this verse:

18.

If I ran, warrior,

why rebuke me?

The weapon-storm pounded,

by my power, on shields.

Long, slender swords

sang loud, while you,

red-bearded softie,

ran to your booth.

Kari spoke another verse:

19.

When warriors lacked

the will to stop fighting,

Skafti the poet was pinned

scared behind his shield,

and the cooks dragged

this dauntless hero

flat on his back

to the juggler's floor.

Kari spoke a third verse:

20.

Men who mount the sea's elk                                  
sea's elk
ship,
mounted
by sailors

have mocked the burning of Njal

and of Grim and of Helgi–

they did a great wrong;

and now in the heather-decked

hills of the hog                  
hills of the hog
allusion to Svinafell (Flosi's home)

all goes otherwise

after the Althing.

There was great laughter. Snorri the Godi smiled and spoke in a low voice, yet in such a way that many heard him:

21.

Skafti would shorten the fight,

but then Asgrim shot his shaft; Holmstein fled unwillingly,

Thorkel was forced to fight.

Now they laughed even louder.

Hall of Sida spoke: ‘All men know what sorrow the death of my son Ljot has brought me. Many will expect that payment for his life will be higher than for the others who have died here. But for the sake of a settlement I'm willing to let my son lie without compensation and, what's more, offer both pledges and peace to my adversaries. I
ask you, Snorri the Godi, and others among the best men, to see to it that a settlement is reached between us.'

Then he sat down, and much good was spoken about his words, and everybody praised his good will.

Snorri the Godi stood up and made a long and wise speech and asked Asgrim and Gizur and the others who were behind the case to accept a settlement.

Asgrim spoke: ‘I resolved, after Flosi forced his way into my house, that I would never accept a settlement with him, and yet now, because of your words, Snorri, and those of other friends of mine, I will not hold back.'

In the same way Thorleif Crow and Thorgrim the Tall said that they would accept a settlement and urged their brother Thorgeir Skorargeir to settle also, but he held back and said he would never part from Kari.

Then Gizur the White said, ‘Now Flosi must decide for his part whether he wants to agree to a settlement that some men will not be a part of.'

Flosi said he wanted to settle – ‘the fewer good men I have against me,' he said, ‘the better I like it.'

Gudmund the Powerful spoke: ‘I for my part offer my hand in promise of compensation for the slayings that occurred here at the Thing, provided that the suits for the burning are not left out.'

Gizur the White and Asgrim and Hjalti spoke the same way, and under these terms a settlement was made.

It was referred by handshake to a panel of twelve men. Snorri the Godi was in charge of the arbitration and other good men were with him. The slayings were weighed against each other, and the imbalance was settled by payment. They also arbitrated the suits for the burning. Threefold compensation was to be paid for Njal, and twofold for Bergthora. The slaying of Skarphedin was weighed equally against the slaying of Hoskuld the Godi of Hvitanes. Twofold compensation was to be paid for both Grim and Helgi. There was to be single compensation for all the others who were burned.

No payment was awarded for the death of Kari's son Thord.

Flosi and the rest of the burners would have to leave the country, but not be obliged to leave that summer unless they wanted to, and if they did not go by the time three years had passed, he and the rest of the burners would become outlaws for life, and their outlawry would be proclaimed either at the Spring Assembly or the Autumn Assembly, whichever men preferred.

Flosi was to stay abroad for three years. Gunnar Lambason, Grani Gunnarsson, Glum Hildisson, and Kol Thorsteinsson were never to have the right to return.

Flosi was asked if he wanted to be paid for his own wound, but he said he would not use his own body to make money. Eyjolf Bolverksson's death was not to be compensated for, on account of his unfairness and wrong-doing.

All this was then agreed on by handshake, and never broken.

Asgrim and his men gave Snorri the Godi good gifts; he had won great respect from this case. Skafti was not compensated for his wound. Gizur the White and Hjalti and Asgrim invited Gudmund the Powerful to visit them. He accepted the invitations and each of them gave him a gold bracelet. Gudmund then rode back north and had the praise of all men for the way he acted in this affair.

Thorgeir Skorargeir asked Kari to come with him, but first they rode north with Gudmund as far as the mountains. Kari gave Gud-mund a gold brooch and Thorgeir gave him a silver belt, both excellent treasures, and they parted in great friendship. Gudmund rode on to his home up north, and he is now out of the saga. Kari and Thorgeir rode south from the mountains and down to Hreppar and from there to Thjorsa.

To turn now to Flosi: all the burners rode east to Fljotshlid. Then Flosi told the Sigfussons to look after their farms. Flosi heard that Thorgeir and Kari had ridden north with Gudmund, and they took this to mean that Kari and Thorgeir were going to stay up north. The Sigfussons then asked if they might go east to the Eyjafjoll district to collect money which was owed to them at Hofdabrekka. Flosi gave them permission but begged them to spend as little time there as
possible. Then he rode up past Godaland and to the mountains and north of the glacier Eyjafjallajokul; he did not stop until he had come home to Svinafell.

To tell now about Hall of Sida: when he had allowed his son's slaying to go without compensation, and did this for the sake of a settlement, everyone assembled at the Althing paid him compensation, and it came to no less than eight hundred ounces of silver, four times the usual amount. All the others who had been with Flosi got no compensation for their losses and they were not at all pleased at that. The Sigfussons stayed at home two days, and on the third they rode east to Raufarfell and stayed overnight there. They were fifteen in number and had no fear for their lives. From there they rode east late in the day and planned to reached Hofdabrekka in the evening. They made a stop in Kerlingardal and there they fell into a deep sleep.

To tell now about Kari: that same day he and his companions rode east across the Markarfljot and then on eastward to Seljalandsmuli. There they came across some women.

The women recognized them at once and said to them, ‘You're not as light-hearted as the Sigfussons, but you're still quite careless.'

Thorgeir said, ‘What makes you talk about the Sigfussons? What do you know about them?'

They answered, ‘They spent last night at Raufarfell and plan to reach Myrdal this evening. It did us good, though, to see that they were in fear of you and asked when you would be coming home.'

The women then went on their way, and Kari and Thorgeir gave the spur to their horses.

Thorgeir said, ‘What do you have in mind now? Do you want us to ride after them?'

Kari said, ‘I won't stand in the way of that'

Thorgeir said, ‘How shall we go about this?'

‘I don't know,' said Kari, ‘because it often turns out that men slain only with words live a long life. But I know how you want to go about
it – you want to take on eight of them, but still that's less of a feat than when you lowered yourself into a gorge with a rope and killed seven men.
¹
You and your kinsmen are like that, always wanting to do something outstanding. I can do no less than stay with you in order to be able to tell the story. Let's ride after them, just the two of us, for I can see that this is your plan.'

They rode east on the upper road and did not pass Holt, for Thorgeir did not want his brothers to be blamed for whatever might happen. Then they continued east to Myrdal, and there they came across a man with peat baskets on his horse.

He said, ‘You don't have enough men, my friend Thorgeir.'

‘What does that mean?' said Thorgeir.

‘It means,' he said, ‘that there might be some prey around here. The Sigfussons rode by and will be dozing all day in Kerlingardal, because they don't plan to go any further than Hofdabrekka this evening.'

Then they rode their separate ways.

Thorgeir and Kari rode east on Arnarstakk heath. There is nothing to say about their trip until they came to the river Kerlingardalsa; it was high. They rode along the river, for they saw some saddled horses up there. They rode up to them and saw some men sleeping in a hollow, and their spears were standing upright just above them; Thorgeir and Kari took the spears and threw them into the river.

Thorgeir said, ‘Do you want us to wake them up?'

Kari answered, ‘Why ask? You've already decided not to attack sleeping men and kill them shamefully.'

Then they shouted at them. The sleepers awoke and jumped up and grabbed their weapons. Kari and Thorgeir did not attack them until they were armed. Thorgeir Skorargeir rushed at Thorkel Sigfus-son. Another man came at Thorgeir from behind, but before he could get in a blow Thorgeir swung Battle-hag with both hands so fast and hard that on his back-swing the hammer of the axe hit the head of the man behind him and smashed his skull into small pieces; he fell down dead at once. And when he swung the axe forward it came down on Thorkel's shoulder and chopped off his arm.

Against Kari came Mord Sigfusson and Sigurd Lambason and
Lambi Sigurdarson. Lambi came at him from behind and lunged at him with his spear. Kari caught sight of him and leaped up and parted his legs wide as the lunge came; the spear went into the ground, and Kari landed on the shaft and broke it in two. He had a spear in one hand and a sword in the other, but no shield. He lunged at Sigurd Lambason with his right hand. The spear hit him in the chest and came out between his shoulders;he fell down dead at once. With his left hand he swung at Mord Sigfusson and hit him on the hip, and cut through it and the backbone as well. He fell forward and was dead at once. After that he turned on his heel like a top and went at Lambi Sigurdarson, and Lambi took the only way out and rushed off.

Then Thorgeir turned to face Leidolf the Strong, and each swung at the other at the same moment, and Leidolf's blow was so strong that it cut off the shield where it hit. Thorgeir had swung his axe with both hands, and the lower point hit the shield and split it in two and the upper point split the collar bone and tore deep down into his chest. Kari came over and cut off Leidolf's leg at mid-thigh. Leidolf fell down dead.

Ketil of Mork said, ‘Let's run for our horses. We cannot hold out against these overpowering men.'

They ran to their horses and leaped on their backs.

Thorgeir said, ‘Do you want us to chase them? We can still kill a few more.'

Kari answered, ‘The one riding last, Ketil of Mork, is a man I don't want to kill, since our wives are sisters, and he has always played very fair with us.'

They mounted their horses and rode until they arrived home in Holt. Thorgeir made his brothers go east to Skogar – they had another farm there – because he didn't want them to be called truce-breakers.
²

Thorgeir and Kari kept a great many men with them after that, never fewer than thirty in fighting form. There was much joy there. It was thought that Thorgeir had gained in stature from this, and Kari too. People kept alive the story of their pursuit, when the two of them attacked fifteen men and killed five of them, and put the rest to flight.

*

To return now to Ketil and the others: they rode as hard as they could until they reached Svinafell, and they told that their journey had not been smooth.

Flosi said this was to be expected – ‘and this should be a warning to you never to travel like that again.'

Flosi was a very jovial man and an excellent host, and it was said that he was endowed with most of the qualities of a great chieftain. He stayed at home that summer, and the winter too.