The Sagas of the Icelanders (77 page)

3
Odd was well pleased with Ospak and gave him a free hand with the estate. He was both skilful and hardworking and an asset to the farm. Another winter passed, and Odd was even more pleased with Ospak, because he was undertaking more tasks. In the autumn he rounded up the sheep from the hills and did so very successfully, with not a single sheep missing.

Now the next winter passed and spring came. Then Odd announced that he intended to go abroad that summer, and said that his kinsman Vali should take over the running of the farm.

Vali answered, ‘The fact is, kinsman, that I’m not used to that, and I’d rather take care of our money and trade goods.’ Then Odd turned to Ospak and asked him to take over the farm.

Ospak answered, ‘That’s too much for me, though things go well enough while you are on the spot.’ Odd pressed him, but Ospak made excuses, although he was really very keen for the job, and in the end he allowed Odd to have his way, as long as Odd promised him his help and support. Odd said he was to manage his property for his own advancement and popularity, and said that he had proved by experience that there was no one else who could or would take better care of his possessions. Ospak said it should be as he pleased, and they broke off their conversation.

Now Odd prepared his ship and had his cargo loaded. The news of this spread and was much talked about. It did not take Odd long to get ready. Vali was to travel with him, and when everything was ready, people saw Odd on his way to his ship. Ospak went with him further than most, because they had much to discuss.

When they were only a short way from the ship Odd said, ‘Now there is just one thing which has not been settled.’

‘What’s that?’ said Ospak.

‘Nothing has been arranged about my godord,’ said Odd, ‘and I’d like you to take it over.’

‘There’s no sense in that,’ said Ospak, ‘I’m not up to the job. I’ve already taken on more than I’m likely to cope with or tackle well. There is nobody as suitable for the godord as your father; he’s an expert in law and very wise.’

Odd said he would not entrust it to him – ‘I want you to take it on.’

Ospak made excuses, but was very keen to do it. Odd said he would get: angry if he did not accept, and when they parted Ospak took over the godord. Odd now went abroad and had a successful voyage, as he usually did. Ospak went home, and this matter was much discussed; Odd was thought to have put a lot of power into this man’s hands.

Ospak rode to the Althing in the summer with a group of supporters, and succeeded ably. He knew how to discharge successfully all the duties the law required of him, and he rode away from the Althing with honour. He supported his thingmen enthusiastically, so that they held their own in
everything and were not imposed on at all, and he was generous and helpful to all his neighbours. In no way did the splendour and hospitality of the estate seem less than before; there was no lapse in management, and the household affairs flourished. Now the summer passed. Ospak rode to the Autumn Meeting and protected it by law, and as autumn drew on he went into the hills at round-up time and made a good job of gathering the sheep; it was pursued with energy, and not a single sheep went missing, either of his own or Odd’s.

4
During the autumn Ospak happened to come north into Vididal to Svolustadir, where a woman named Svala lived. He was offered hospitality there. Svala, who was a good-looking young woman, talked to Ospak and asked him to manage her affairs.

‘I’ve heard that you’re a good farm manager,’ she said.

He responded positively, and they talked about many things. Each was attracted to the other and they exchanged warm glances. Their discussion ended with him asking who was responsible for finding her a husband.

‘No one of any importance is more closely related to me,’ she said, ‘than Thorarin the Wise, the Godi of Langadal.’

Ospak then rode to visit Thorarin, who welcomed him without enthusiasm. He explained his errand and asked for Svala’s hand.

Thorarin answered, ‘I don’t find you a desirable in-law; your doings are much talked about. I can see that it’s necessary to deal unambiguously with people such as you: either I’ll have to confiscate her farm and move her in here, or the two of you will do as you please. Now I’ll have nothing to do with this, and I declare it to be no affair of mine.’

After that Ospak went back to Svolustadir and told Svala how things stood. Then they settled their marriage themselves, with Svala declaring her own betrothal; she moved with him to Mel, but they kept the farm at Svolustadir and employed people to run it. Ospak now kept house at Mel in grand style, but people nonetheless found him very overbearing.

Now another winter passed, and in the summer Odd made land in Hrutafjord, having yet again done well in terms of both money and reputation. He came home to Mel and looked over his property; he thought it well cared for, and approved of it. As summer passed, one day Odd raised the matter with Ospak that it would be proper for him to take back his godord.

‘Of course,’ said Ospak. ‘That was the thing I was least willing and fit to deal with. I’m quite ready to hand it over, but I think such transfers are most usually made either at autumn assemblies or at Things.’

Odd answered, ‘That’s fine by me.’

Summer passed until time for the Autumn Meeting. When Odd woke up on the assembly morning, he looked about him and saw few people in the hall. He had slept long and deep. He leapt out of bed and realized that all the men had left the hall. He thought this was strange, but said little; he got dressed and rode to the assembly, taking several men with him. When they arrived there was a crowd of people there, but they were nearly ready to leave, and the assembly had been protected by law. Odd was taken aback, and thought this behaviour strange.

Everyone went home, and some days passed. Then one day when Odd was sitting at table with Ospak opposite him, without any warning Odd leapt up from the table, threatening Ospak with a raised axe, and ordered him to hand over the godord now.

Ospak answered, ‘There’s no need to pursue the matter with such vigour – you can have your godord whenever you want. I had no idea you were serious about taking it over.’

Then he stretched out his hand to Odd and transferred the godord to him.

Things were now quiet for a time, but there was no love lost between Odd and Ospak. Ospak was savage tempered, and people suspected that he must have been intending to keep the godord for himself and not give it back to Odd, if it had not been forced from him in a way he could not escape. Now his management of the farm came to nothing; Odd gave him no orders, and they never exchanged a word. One day Ospak got ready to leave. Odd pretended not to notice, and they parted without either of them saying goodbye. Ospak now went to his farm at Svolustadir. Odd behaved as if nothing had happened, and things were quiet for a time.

It is reported that when men went to the hills in the autumn, there was a striking difference in Odd’s success in collecting his sheep compared with previous years. In the autumn round-up he was forty wethers short, all the best of his stock; they were searched for far and wide in the hills and mountains but could not be found. People thought this strange, because Odd was reckoned to be luckier with his livestock than other men. So much effort was put into the hunt that the sheep were searched for both locally and in other districts, but without success. In the end this tailed off, but there was still a lot of discussion as to what could be behind it.

Odd was not cheerful that winter. His kinsman Vali asked him why he was so gloomy.

‘Does the disappearance of the wethers prey on you so much? You’re not a very high-minded man if such a thing can get you down.’

Odd replied, ‘It’s not the loss of the wethers which bothers me so much as not knowing who stole them.’

‘Are you sure that’s what has happened to them?’ said Vali.

‘Whom do you most suspect?’ Odd said. ‘There’s no hiding the fact that I think Ospak is the thief.’

Vali answered, ‘Your friendship has gone downhill since the time when you put him in charge of all your property.’

Odd said that that had been a very stupid thing to do, and it had turned out better than might have been expected.

Vali said, ‘Many people said at the time that it was strange. Now I don’t want you to rush into making a serious accusation against him; if it is thought ill-founded, there’s a danger to your reputation. Now we two will do a deal,’ said Vali, ‘that you will leave it to me to decide how to go about this, and I will find out the truth for certain.’ They agreed on this.

Vali now got ready for a journey and rode on a trading trip north to Vatnsdal and Langadal, selling his merchandise. He was a popular man, helpful with advice. He went on his way until he came to Svolustadir, where he was warmly received. Ospak was in very cheerful mood. Next morning, when Vali prepared to leave, Ospak saw him off from the farm, asking for all the news of Odd. Vali said he was doing well.

Ospak spoke approvingly of Odd and praised his magnificent life-style: ‘But didn’t he suffer some losses last autumn?’

Vali said that was true.

‘What are people’s guesses about the disappearance of his wethers? Odd has been so lucky with his livestock up to now.’

Vali replied, ‘Opinions vary, but some people think it was no accident.’

‘Unthinkable!’ said Ospak. ‘Few men would be capable of such a thing.’

‘Just so,’ said Vali.

Ospak said, ‘Has Odd himself any views?’

Vali said, ‘He doesn’t talk about it much, but there’s plenty of speculation from other people about what was behind it.’

‘That’s to be expected,’ said Ospak.

‘It’s like this,’ said Vali, ‘since we’re speaking of the matter: some people want to suggest that you might very probably be responsible. They put two and two together about your cold parting from Odd and the disappearance of the sheep not long after.’

Ospak answered, ‘I never expected to hear you say such a thing, and if we weren’t such good friends I would make you pay bitterly for that.’

Vali replied, ‘There’s no point in trying to deny this, or in getting so
worked up about it. It won’t clear you of the charge; I’ve been looking over the state of your supplies, and I can see that you have much more than you would be likely to come by honestly.’

‘That will not prove true,’ Ospak answered, ‘and I don’t know what my enemies can be saying, if this is how my friends are talking.’

Vali replied, ‘I’m not saying this out of enmity towards you, and you are the only one hearing it. Now if you do as I want and come clean with me, you’ll get off lightly, because I have a plan. I have been selling my goods all over the countryside: I’ll say that you bought them all and used them to buy meat and other things. Nobody will disbelieve it. In this way I can contrive that you get out of this without dishonour, if you follow my advice.’

Ospak said he was not confessing anything.

‘Then it will be the worse for you,’ said Vali, ‘and it will be your own fault.’

Then they parted, and Vali went home.

Odd asked what he had discovered about the disappearance of the sheep, but Vali had little to say.

Odd said, ‘There’s no point in denying that Ospak is the thief, because you would be quick to clear him if you could.’

The rest of the winter was uneventful, but in the spring when the Summons Days came, Odd set out with twenty men.

When they got near the farm at Svolustadir, Vali said to Odd, ‘Now you let your horses graze, and I’ll ride up to the house and meet Ospak and see if he is willing to come to terms. Then the case will not need to go further.’

They did as he said.

Vali rode up to the house. There was nobody outside, but the door was open, so Vali went in. The house was dark. Without any warning, someone leapt from the benches and struck Vali between the shoulders so that he fell at once. It was Ospak.

Vali said, ‘Run for it, you miserable wretch. Odd is almost at the farm and he means to kill you. Send your wife to tell Odd that we have come to terms and you have confessed to the charge, but that I have ridden north to the valleys about my business affairs.’

Then Ospak said, ‘This act has turned out very badly; I meant this for Odd, not for you.’

Svala now went to meet Odd and told him that Ospak and Vali had come to terms: ‘Vali said that you should go home.’

Odd believed her and rode home, but Vali died, and his body was taken to Mel. Odd thought this terrible news. He received dishonour from
the affair, which was considered to have turned out disastrously for him.

Ospak now disappeared, so that no one knew what had become of him.

5
To return to Odd, he prepared to take this case to the Althing by summoning a panel of neighbours from his home district. Now it happened that one of the panel died, and Odd summoned another man in his place. Then men went to the Althing, and nothing happened until the courts were in session. When the courts sat, Odd began an action for manslaughter, and it went smoothly for him until the defence was invited to speak.

A short distance from the court two chieftains, Styrmir and Thorarin, were sitting with their supporters.

Then Styrmir said to Thorarin, ‘The defence has just been invited on the manslaughter charge; do you want to offer any defence in this case?’

Thorarin answered, ‘I’ll have nothing to do with it. Odd seems to me more than justified in bringing a suit following the killing of such a man as Vali, and I regard the accused as a thoroughly bad lot.’

‘Yes,’ said Styrmir, ‘the fellow is certainly bad, but you do have some duty towards him.’
^*

‘I couldn’t care less,’ said Thorarin. Styrmir said, ‘But you have to look at the fact that he is going to be your problem, and will be a worse and more complicated one if he’s outlawed. I think it is worth considering what steps we can take in the case, because we can both see a legal defence.’

‘I spotted that long ago,’ said Thorarin, ‘but I don’t think it a good idea to hinder this case.’

Styrmir said, ‘But this affects you most, and people will say that you have acted feebly if the case goes through when there is an unanswerable legal defence. The fact of the matter is that it would also do Odd good to realize that he’s not the only person of consequence around. He tramples over all of us and our thingmen, so that he gets all the attention. It will do him no harm to discover just how skilled in law he really is.’

Thorarin answered, ‘Have it your own way, and I’ll back you up, but no good is likely to come of it, and it will end badly.’

‘We can’t let that influence us,’ said Styrmir, jumping up and going over to the court.

He asked what case was in progress, and was told.

Styrmir said, ‘The situation is, Odd, that there is a legal defence against your charge. You have prepared the case incorrectly, in summoning a tenth panel-member at home. That is a legal error: you should have done that at the Althing and not in your home district. Now you can either leave the court as the case stands, or we will move this defence.’

Odd was dumbstruck and thought the matter over. He realized it was true, left the court with his supporters and went back to his booth. When he reached the passage between the booths, there was a man coming towards him. He was an elderly man in a black-sleeved cape; it was threadbare and had only one sleeve, hanging down the back. He had a metal-pointed staff in his hand. He wore his hood low over his face, peering sharply out from under it. He walked with a stoop, jabbing his stick down for support. It was old Ofeig, his father.

‘You’re leaving the court early,’ said Ofeig. ‘You can boast more than one talent, when everything goes so promptly and decisively for you – or hasn’t Ospak been outlawed?’

‘No,’ said Odd, ‘he has not been outlawed.’

Ofeig said, ‘It’s not acting like a great man to make fun of me when I’m old. Why would he not be outlawed? Wasn’t he guilty of the crime?’

‘Of course he was guilty,’ said Odd.

‘What is it then?’ said Ofeig. ‘I thought the charge ought to stick – or did he not kill Vali?’

‘No one’s denying that,’ said Odd.

‘Then why isn’t he outlawed?’ said Ofeig.

Odd answered, ‘A defence was found in the case and it collapsed.’

Ofeig said, ‘How can there be a defence in a case brought by such a rich man?’

‘They said it was wrongly prepared in the first place,’ said Odd.

‘That can’t be so, when you were the prosecutor,’ said Ofeig, ‘though perhaps you are better at moneymaking and voyages than the perfect management of lawsuits. But I still think you are not telling me the truth.’

‘I don’t give a damn whether you believe me or not,’ Odd replied.

‘That may well be,’ said Ofeig, ‘but I knew before you set out from home that the case had been wrongly prepared, but you thought yourself all-sufficient and wouldn’t ask anyone’s advice. Now you will still be self-sufficient in the matter, I suppose. It’s bound to turn out well for you, but it is a demanding situation for the likes of you, who look down on everyone else.’

Odd answered, ‘It’s more than plain that there will be no help from you.’

Ofeig said, ‘The only hope in your situation is for you to make use of my help. How reluctant would you be to pay out if someone rectified your case?’

‘I would spare no money,’ Odd replied, ‘if someone would take over the case.’

‘Then hand over a reasonably plump purse to this old man,’ said Ofeig, ‘because many eyes squint when there’s money around.’

Odd gave him a heavy purse. Then Ofeig asked, ‘Was the defence formally made or not?’

‘We walked out of the court first,’ said Odd.

Ofeig answered, ‘The only useful step you made was taken in ignorance.’

Then they parted, and Odd went back to his booth.