Njal's Saga (19 page)

Skammkel spoke: ‘If he were just an ordinary man, it would be said that he cried.'

‘That was an evil thing to say,' said Runolf, ‘and the next time you and Gunnar meet you will have to admit that there is no trace of crying in his nature, and it would be a good thing if better men than you did not have to pay for your maliciousness. For now it seems best that I go along with you when you want to go home, for Gunnar will not harm me.'

‘I don't want that,' said Otkel, ‘but we'll cross the river further down.'

Runolf gave him good gifts and said that they would not meet again. Otkel asked him not to forget his son if that should prove true.

Now to return to Hlidarendi: Gunnar was outside and saw his shepherd galloping towards the house. The shepherd rode into the hayfield. Gunnar asked, ‘Why are you riding so fast?'

‘I wanted to prove my loyalty' he said. ‘I saw some men riding down along the Markarfljot, eight of them altogether, and four were wearing coloured clothing.'

Gunnar said, ‘It must be Otkel.'

‘I have often heard much provocative language from them,' said the shepherd: ‘Skammkel said over at Dal that you cried when they rode at you. I tell you this because I hate the things bad men say'

‘Let's not be overcome by their words,' said Gunnar, ‘but from now on you must only do the work you want to do.'

‘Shall I tell your brother Kolskegg about this?' said the shepherd.

‘You go and sleep,' said Gunnar. ‘I'll tell Kolskegg.'

The boy went to bed and fell asleep at once.

Gunnar took the shepherd's horse and put his saddle on it. He took his shield, girded himself with the sword he had received from Olvir, put on his helmet, and took his halberd; it rang loudly, and his mother Rannveig heard it.

She came to him and spoke: ‘You look angry, my son. I never saw you like this before.'

Gunnar went out and thrust the halberd into the ground to vault into the saddle, and rode away. Rannveig went into the main room. There was a great din of voices there.

‘You are talking loudly,' she said, ‘but Gunnar's halberd was even louder when he went out.'

Kolskegg heard this and spoke: ‘That means no small news.'

‘Good,' said Hallgerd. ‘Now they can find out whether Gunnar will go away from them crying.'

Kolskegg took his weapons and found himself a horse and rode after Gunnar as fast as he could.

Gunnar rode across Akratunga and then to Geilastofnar, and from there to the Ranga river and down to the ford at Hof. There were some women out at the milking-pen. Gunnar leaped from his horse and tied it.

Then Otkel and his party came riding up. There were slabs of hard clay on the paths to the ford.

Gunnar said to them, ‘Now you must defend yourselves – my halberd is here. You'll find out now if I'll do any crying for you.'

They all leaped from their horses and charged at Gunnar. Hallbjorn was in the lead.

‘Don't you attack me,' said Gunnar. ‘You're the last one I would want to harm, but I won't spare anyone if I have to defend myself.'

‘It cannot be helped,' said Hallbjorn. ‘You're planning to kill my brother, and I would be shamed if I just stood by' – and with both hands he thrust a great spear at Gunnar.

Gunnar brought his shield to meet the spear, and Hallbjorn's thrust went through it. Gunnar brought the shield down so hard that it
stuck in the ground, and then he grabbed his sword so swiftly that no eye could follow and swung it and hit Hallbjorn on the arm, above the wrist, and cut it off.

Skammkel ran up behind Gunnar and swung a great axe at him. Gunnar turned quickly to face him and struck the underside of the blade with his halberd, and the axe flew out of his hand and out into the Ranga river. Gunnar thrust with the halberd a second time, right through Skammkel, and lifted him up and threw him head first on the clay path.

Audolf seized his spear and threw it at Gunnar. Gunnar caught it in the air and threw it back and it went through both the shield and the Norwegian and into the ground.

Otkel swung his sword at Gunnar and tried to hit the leg below the knee. Gunnar leaped into the air, and Otkel missed him. Gunnar then thrust right through him with his halberd.

Kolskegg arrived then and rushed straight at Hallkel and dealt him a death blow with his short sword. Together they killed eight men.

A woman who saw this ran to the house and told Mord, and asked him to separate them.

‘It's just men who, for all I care,' he said, ‘can kill each other.'

‘You don't mean that,' she said. ‘Your kinsman Gunnar and your friend Otkel are there.'

‘You're always babbling away, you foul wretch,' he said, and lay inside while they were fighting.

Gunnar and Kolskegg rode home after these deeds and rode swiftly along the river bank, and Gunnar sprang from his horse and landed on his feet.

Kolskegg said, ‘Brave riding, brother!'

Gunnar said, ‘Skammkel mocked me with those words when I said “You've ridden over me.” '

‘You've had your vengeance for that,' said Kolskegg.

‘What I don't know,' said Gunnar, ‘is whether I am less manly than other men because killing troubles me more than it does them.'

The news spread far and wide, and many people said that it had not happened any sooner than was likely. Gunnar rode to Bergthorshvol and told Njal of these deeds.

Njal spoke: ‘It's a big thing you've done, but you've been greatly provoked.'

‘What will come next?' said Gunnar.

‘Do you want me to tell you of something which has not yet happened?' said Njal. ‘You will ride to the Thing and follow my advice and earn great honour from this matter. This will be the beginning of your career of killings.'

‘Give me your sound advice,' said Gunnar.

‘I will,' said Njal. ‘Never kill more than once within the same bloodline, and never break any settlement which good men make between you and others, least of all if you have broken my first warning.'

‘I would have expected other men to do these things sooner than me,' said Gunnar.

‘That's so,' said Njal. ‘And yet you must bear in mind that if these two things happen, you will not have long to live – but otherwise you will live to be an old man.'

Gunnar said, ‘Do you know what will be the cause of your death?'

‘I do,'said Njal.

‘What?' said Gunnar.

‘Something that people would least expect,' said Njal.

Then Gunnar rode home.

A messenger was sent to Gizur the White and Geir the Godi, since it was up to them to bring a suit following the slaying of Otkel. They met to talk about what to do. They agreed that the case should be prosecuted by law. Then it was a question of who would undertake this, and neither of them was willing.

‘It seems to me,' said Gizur, ‘that there are two possibilities: one of us must bring the suit – and we decide this by lot – or else Otkel will lie without compensation. We can expect that it will be hard to bring this suit – Gunnar is well off for kinsmen and for friends. Whichever
of us does not draw the lot must ride along in support and not back out until the case has been concluded.'

Then they drew lots, and it was Geir the Godi who had to bring the suit.

Shortly after this they rode east over the rivers and came to where the encounter had taken place on the Ranga river. They dug up the bodies and named witnesses to the fatal wounds. Then they gave notice of their findings and summoned a panel of nine neighbours.

They were told that Gunnar was at home with thirty men. Geir the Godi asked Gizur whether he was willing to ride over there with a hundred men.

‘I don't want to do that,' he said, ‘even with such a great difference in numbers.'

They then rode back home. News of the starting of this suit spread to all districts of Iceland, and the talk was that this would be a stormy Thing.

There was a man named Skafti, the son of Thorodd. Thorodd's mother was Thorvor; she was the daughter of Thormod Skafti, the son of Oleif the Broad, the son of Olvir Child-sparer. Skafti and his father were great chieftains and very expert in the law. Thorodd was considered devious and cunning. They both supported Gizur the White in all matters.
¹

The men from Fljotshlid and the men from the Ranga district assembled in great numbers for the Thing. Gunnar was so well liked that they all agreed to stand by him. They arrived at the Thing and put the coverings over their booths.

In alliance with Gizur the White were these chieftains: Skafti and Thorodd, Asgrim Ellida-Grimsson, Odd from Kidjaberg, and Halldor Ornolfsson.

One day men went to the Law Rock. Geir the Godi stood up and gave notice of a suit for homicide against Gunnar for the slaying of Otkel. He gave notice of a second suit for homicide against Gunnar for the slaying of Hallbjorn the White, then another for the slaying of Audolf and another for the slaying of Skammkel. Then he gave
notice of a suit for homicide against Kolskegg for the slaying of Hallkel. When he had finished announcing all the suits, people said that he had spoken well. He asked about the district and the domicile of the defendants. Everybody then left the Law Rock.

The Thing went on until the day that the courts were to convene to hear the prosecution. Both sides gathered in large numbers. Geir the Godi and Gizur the White stood to the south of the Ranga court, Gunnar and Njal to the north. Geir the Godi requested that Gunnar listen to his oath, and then he swore it. After that he presented the charges. Then he produced witnesses that notice of the suit had been given; then he had the neighbours take their seats on the panel; then he invited his opponents to challenge the legitimacy of the panel; and then he asked the panel to announce its findings.

The neighbours who had been named went before the court and named witnesses and barred themselves from reaching a decision about Audolf, since the man who should prosecute was in Norway and it was not for them to deal with the case. After that they gave their decision in the case of Otkel and declared that Gunnar was truly guilty of the charge. After that Geir the Godi invited Gunnar to defend himself and named witnesses for each of the steps taken in the prosecution.

Gunnar in his turn requested that Geir the Godi listen to his oath and to the defence which he would present in the case. Then he swore his oath. He spoke: ‘The defence which I present in this case is that I named witnesses and in the presence of neighbours declared Otkel an outlaw on account of the bloody wound which he inflicted on me with his spur. I forbid you by law, Geir the Godi, to prosecute this case, and the judges to judge it, and I hereby declare the initiation of your suit invalid. I forbid you according to a lawful, incontestable, absolute and binding right of prohibition, as I am entitled by the rules of the Althing and common law. I also want to tell you of another procedure I have in mind.'

‘Are you,' said Geir, ‘going to challenge me to a duel, as is your custom, and disregard the laws?'

‘Not that,' said Gunnar, ‘but I will charge you at the Law Rock for calling a panel to sit on the case of Audolf, when it was not for them
to deal with that case, and for this I hold you deserving of outlawry for three years.'

Njal spoke: ‘You can't go on like this, for it will only lead to a hard-fought dispute. There are strong arguments, it seems to me, on both sides of the case. There are some slayings, Gunnar, for which you cannot ward off being found guilty
²
At the same time you have brought a suit against Geir by which he will be found guilty. And you, Geir the Godi, must understand that there is a charge of full outlawry against you which has not yet been brought, and it will be brought if you don't do as I say.'
³

Thorodd the Godi spoke: ‘It seems to Skafti and me that the peaceful thing to do is make a settlement between yourselves. But why do you have so little to say, Gizur the White?'

‘It seems to me,' said Gizur, ‘that some mighty obstacles block our suit, for it's clear that Gunnar's friends are standing by him, and the best thing for our side would be for good men to arbitrate a settlement – if Gunnar so wills.'

‘I have always been glad to settle peacefully' said Gunnar. ‘You have much to seek redress for, but I still think I have been pushed hard.'

By the advice of the wisest men it was concluded that the case should be settled by arbitration; six men were to arbitrate the case. It was to be done at once, at the Thing.

The decision was that Skammkel should lie without compensation, that the amounts for Otkel's death and for the spur-wound were to cancel each other out and that the other slayings were to be paid for according to each man's worth. Gunnar's kinsmen contributed enough money so that all the slayings were paid for at once, at the Thing. Geir the Godi and Gizur the White then made pledges of peace to Gunnar.

Gunnar rode home from the Thing. He thanked men for their support and gave gifts to many and earned much honour from all this. Then he remained honourably at home.

There was a man named Starkad. He was the son of Bork Black-tooth-beard, the son of Thorkel Bound-leg, who settled the area around the mountain Thrihyrning. Starkad was a married man, and his wife's name was Hallbera. She was the daughter of Hroald the Red and of Hildigunn, the daughter of Thorstein Sparrow. Hildigunn's mother was Unn, the daughter of Eyvind Karfi and the sister of Modolf the Wise, from whom the Modylfing clan are descended. The sons of Starkad and Hallbera were Thorgeir, Bork and Thorkel. Their sister was Hildigunn the Healer. The brothers were very prone to violence, mean-spirited and overbearing; they had no respect for the rights of others.

There was a man named Egil. He was the son of Kol, the son of Ottar Boll, who settled the area between Stotalaek and Reydarvatn. Egil's brother was Onund of Trollaskog, the father of Halli the Strong, who was at the slaying of Holta-Thorir together with the sons of Ketil the Smooth-talker. Egil lived at Sandgil. His sons were Kol and Ottar and Hauk. Their mother was Steinvor, Starkad's sister. Egil's sons were big and aggressive men and the worst trouble-makers. They always took sides with the sons of Starkad. Their sister was Gudrun Night-sun, a very well-mannered woman.