Njal's Saga (14 page)

He had also invited Valgard the Grey and Ulf Aur-Godi, and their sons Mord and Runolf.

Hoskuld and Hrut came to the wedding in a large company; Thorleik and Olaf, the sons of Hoskuld, were among them. The bride came with them, and her daughter Thorgerd, a very beautiful woman; she was then fourteen. Many other women came with her as well.

Also at the wedding were Thorhalla, the daughter of Asgrim Ellida-Grimsson, and two daughters of Njal, Thorgerd and Helga.
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Gunnar had invited many people from the neighbourhood, and he seated his guests in this way: he himself sat in the middle of the bench, and next to him, on the inside, sat Thrain Sigfusson, then Ulf Aur-Godi, Valgard the Grey, Mord, Runolf, and then the sons of Sigfus, with Lambi innermost. On the other side of Gunnar, towards the door, sat Njal, then Skarphedin, Helgi, Grim, Hoskuld,
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Haf the Wise, Ingjald from Keldur, and then the sons of Thorir from Holt in the east. Thorir himself wanted to sit at the outer edge of the men of worth, for then everyone would think himself well seated.

Hoskuld Dala-Kollsson sat in the middle of the opposite bench, with his sons further in. Hrut sat on the other side of Hoskuld, towards the door. There is no report of how the others were seated.

The bride sat in the middle of the cross-bench. On one side of her sat her daughter Thorgerd, and on the other Thorhalla, the daughter of Asgrim Ellida-Grimsson.

Thorhild waited on the guests, and she and Bergthora carried the food to the tables. Thrain Sigfusson had his eyes fixed on Thorgerd.
His wife Thorhild noticed this; she became angry and made a couplet for him.

‘Thrain,' she said,

2.

‘This gaping is not good,

Your eyes are all agog.'

Thrain jumped at once across the table and named witnesses and declared himself divorced from her – ‘I won't take any more of her mocking and malicious language.'

He was so vehement about this that he would not stay at the feast unless she were sent away. And so it was – she went away. After that, each man sat in his seat and they drank and were merry.

Then Thrain spoke up: ‘I won't make a secret of what's on my mind. I want to ask you this, Hoskuld Dala-Kollsson: will you give your granddaughter Thorgerd to me as my wife?'

‘I don't know about that,' said Hoskuld. ‘It seems to me that you have barely parted from the one you had before. What kind of man is he, Gunnar?'

Gunnar answered, ‘I don't want to say anything – the man is related to me. You say something, Njal, since everybody will believe you.'

Njal spoke: ‘About this man it can be said that he is well off for property and skilled in every way and very powerful, and you may well make this match with him.'

Then Hoskuld said, ‘What do you think, Hrut?'

Hrut answered, ‘You may give your approval, since it's an even match for her.'

They talked about the agreement until they were agreed on all terms. Gunnar and Thrain then stood up and went to the cross-bench. Gunnar asked mother and daughter whether they would accept this agreement. They said they had nothing against it, and Hallgerd betrothed her daughter.

The women's places were shifted; now Thorhalla sat between the brides. The feast went on well. When it was over, Hoskuld and his people rode west, and the people from the Rangarvellir district
returned to their homes. Gunnar gave gifts to many and this was much to his credit.

Hallgerd took over the running of the household and was bountiful and assertive. Thorgerd took over the household at Grjota and was a good housewife.

It was the custom between Gunnar and Njal, because of their close friendship, that every winter one of them would invite the other to his home for a winter feast. It was now Gunnar's turn to be Njal's guest at the winter feast, and so he and Hallgerd went to Bergthorshvol. Helgi and his wife were not there. Njal welcomed them, and when they had been there a while Helgi and his wife Thorhalla returned.

Bergthora went up to the cross-bench, together with Thorhalla, and spoke to Hallgerd: ‘You must move aside for this woman.'

Hallgerd spoke: ‘I'll not move aside for anyone, and I won't sit in the corner like a cast-off hag'

‘I decide things here,' said Bergthora.

After that Thorhalla sat down.

Bergthora came to the table with water for washing hands. Hallgerd took her hand and said, ‘There's not much to choose between you and Njal – you have gnarled nails on every finger,
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and he's beardless.'

‘That's true,' said Bergthora, ‘and yet we don't hold it against each other. But your husband Thorvald was not beardless, and yet you had him killed.'

‘There's little use to me in being married to the most manly man in Iceland,' said Hallgerd, ‘if you don't avenge this, Gunnar.'

He sprang up and leaped across the table and spoke: ‘I'm going home, and it would be best for you to pick quarrels with your servants, and not in the dwellings of others. I'm in debt to Njal for many honours, and I'm not going to be a cat's-paw for you.'

After that Gunnar and Hallgerd set off for home.

‘Keep this in mind, Bergthora,' said Hallgerd, ‘that we're not finished yet'

Bergthora said that Hallgerd would not be better off for that. Gunnar
said nothing more and went home to Hlidarendi and was there all through the winter. Summer came, and the time for the Thing.

Gunnar got ready to ride to the Thing, and before he left he spoke to Hallgerd: ‘Behave yourself while I'm away and don't show your bad temper where my friends are concerned.'

‘The trolls take your friends,' she said.

Gunnar rode to the Thing, and saw that it was no good talking to her. Njal and all his sons also rode to the Thing.

Now to tell what was happening at home: Gunnar and Njal together owned some woodland at Raudaskrid. They had not divided it up, and each of them was in the habit of cutting what he needed, without blame from the other.

Kol was the name of Hallgerd's overseer. He had been with her a long time, and was the worst sort of person. A man named Svart was Njal and Bergthora's servant, and they were quite fond of him.

Bergthora spoke with Svart and told him to go to Raudaskrid and chop wood – ‘and I will send men to haul it home.'

He said he would do as she wished. He went up to Raudaskrid and started chopping, and was to stay there for a week.

Some poor men came to Hlidarendi from east of the Markarfljot and reported that Svart had been at Raudaskrid chopping wood, and working hard at it.

‘It seems that Bergthora is out to rob me in a big way' said Hallgerd, ‘but I'll see to it that he won't chop any more.'

Rannveig, Gunnar's mother, overheard this and spoke: ‘Housewives have been good here, even without plotting to kill men.'

The night passed, and in the morning Hallgerd said to Kol, ‘I have thought of a job for you,' and she handed him a weapon. ‘Go up to Raudaskrid. You'll find Svart there.'

‘What am I to do with him?' he said.

‘Do you need to ask that?' she said. ‘You – the worst sort of person? Kill him!'

‘I can do that,' he said, ‘and yet it's likely to cost me my life.'

‘Everything grows big in your eyes,' she said, ‘and this is bad of you after all the times I've spoken up for you. I'll find another man to do this if you don't dare.'

He took the axe and was very angry, and took a horse that Gunnar owned and rode until he came east to the Markarfljot. There he dismounted and waited in the woods until men had carried off the timber and Svart was left alone.

Kol charged towards him and said, ‘More men than you know how to chop hard' – and he sank the axe into his head and struck him his death blow and then rode back and told Hallgerd of the slaying.

She said, ‘I'll look after you so that no one will harm you.'

‘That may be,' he said, ‘but before I did the slaying I had a dream that pointed the other way.'

The men came back to the woods and found Svart dead and carried his body home.

Hallgerd sent a man to Gunnar at the Thing to tell him of the slaying. Gunnar did not find fault with Hallgerd in the presence of the messenger, and at first people did not know whether he thought well or ill of it. After a while he stood up and asked his men to come with him. They did, and went together to Njal's booth, and Gunnar sent a man to ask Njal to come outside. Njal came out at once, and he and Gunnar went apart to talk.

Gunnar spoke: ‘I have a slaying to tell you of: my wife and my overseer Kol brought it about, and your servant Svart was the victim.'

Njal remained silent while Gunnar told him everything. Then he spoke: ‘You must not let her have her way in everything.'

Gunnar said, ‘You make the judgement yourself.'

Njal said, ‘It's going to be hard for you to atone for all of Hallgerd's misdoings, and another time the effects will be greater than now, where just the two of us are involved – though this matter itself is far short of going well – and you and I will have to keep in mind the good things we've been saying to each other for a long time. I expect that you will do well, but you will be tested hard.'

Njal accepted self-judgement from Gunnar and said, ‘I'm not going
to push this too hard: pay me twelve ounces of silver. But I want to stipulate that if something happens from my side which you have to judge, you will not set harder terms than I have done.'

Gunnar paid the money readily and then rode home.

Njal and his sons returned from the Thing. Bergthora saw the money and said, ‘This was moderately done – the same amount must be paid for Kol when the time comes.'

Gunnar returned from the Thing and reproached Hallgerd. She said that better men than Svart had died in many places without compensation.

Gunnar said she would decide her own actions – ‘but I shall decide how the cases are settled.'

Hallgerd frequently boasted of the slaying of Svart, and Bergthora did not like that at all.

Njal and his sons went up to Thorolfsfell to look after their farm. The same day it happened that Bergthora was outside and saw a man riding up on a black horse. She remained where she was and did not go in. She did not recognize him. He had a spear in his hand and a short sword at his belt. She asked him his name.

‘I'm called Atli,' he said.

She asked where he came from.

‘I'm from the East Fjords,' he said.

‘Where are you going?' she said.

‘I have no place to work,' he said, ‘and I was looking for Njal and Skarphedin, to see if they would take me on.'

‘What work are you best at?' she asked.

‘I do field work,' he said, ‘and I'm good at many other things, but I won't hide the fact that I'm a harsh-tempered man and that many have had to bind up wounds on account of me.'

‘I won't hold it against you,' she said, ‘that you're not a coward.'

Atli said, ‘Do you have any authority here?'

‘I'm Njal's wife,' she said, ‘and I have no less authority in hiring than he does.'

‘Will you take me on?' he asked.

‘I'll give you a chance,' she said, ‘provided you do whatever I ask you to – even if I send you out to kill someone.'

‘You surely have enough men,' he said, ‘that you don't need me for such things.'

‘I set the terms as I please,' she said.

‘Let's agree on them, then,' he said, and she took him on.

Njal and his sons came home, and Njal asked Bergthora who this new man was.

‘He's your servant,' she said. ‘I hired him – he said he was good at working with his hands.'

‘He'll be a hard worker, sure enough,' said Njal, ‘but I don't know whether he'll be a good worker.'

Skarphedin took a liking to Atli.

The following summer Njal and his sons rode to the Thing. Gunnar was also there. One day Njal brought out a pouch of money.

Skarphedin asked, ‘What money is that, father?'

‘This is the money,' said Njal, ‘that Gunnar paid to me for our servant last summer.'

‘It may turn out to be useful,' said Skarphedin, and grinned.

Now to what was happening at home: Atli asked Bergthora what work he should do that day.

‘I've thought of a job for you,' she said. ‘Go and look for Kol until you find him, for you must kill him today – if you want to do my will.'

‘That's quite fitting,' he said, ‘since both Kol and I are bad sorts. I'll go after him in such a way that one of us will die.'

‘You'll do well,' she said, ‘and you won't do this job for nothing.'

He went and got his weapons and horse and rode away. He rode up to Fljotshlid and met men there who were coming from Hlidarendi. They lived at Mork in the east. They asked where Atli was headed, and he said he was out riding to look for a work-horse. They said that that was a petty task for such a workman – ‘but it would be best for you to ask those who were on the move last night'

‘And who are they?' he said.

‘Killer-Kol, Hallgerd's servant, left the shieling just now,' they said, ‘and he's been up all night.'

‘I don't know if I dare to meet up with him,' said Atli. ‘He's got a bad temper, and I'd best be warned by another man's woe.'

‘From the look in your eyes,' they said, ‘you seem anything but a coward' – and they directed him to where Kol was.

He spurred his horse and rode hard. When he came to Kol he said, ‘Is your pack-horse work going well?'

‘That's no business of yours, you scum,' said Kol, ‘or of anybody from your place.'

Atli said, ‘You still have the toughest task of all.'

Atli then thrust his spear and hit him in the waist. Kol swung his axe at him and missed and fell off his horse and died at once.