Njal's Saga (24 page)

They took the ropes and rigged them in this way, and Gunnar was not aware of it until they had pulled off the whole roof. He kept on shooting with his bow, so they could not get at him. Then Mord said once more that they should burn Gunnar to death inside.

Gizur answered, ‘I don't know why you want to keep talking of something that nobody else wants – that shall never be!'

At that moment Thorbrand Thorleiksson leaped up on the roof and cut through Gunnar's bow string. Gunnar grasped his halberd with both hands and turned quickly towards him and drove the halberd through him and flung him off the roof. Then Asbrand, Thorbrand's brother, leaped up; Gunnar thrust at him with the halberd, and Asbrand brought his shield to meet it. The halberd went through the shield and between the upper arm and forearm. Gunnar twisted the halberd so that the shield split and both his arm-bones broke, and Asbrand fell off the roof.

By this time Gunnar had wounded eight men and killed two. Then
he received two wounds, and everybody said that he flinched at neither wounds nor death.

He spoke to Hallgerd: ‘Give me two locks of your hair, and you and my mother twist them into a bowstring for me.'

‘Does anything depend on it?' she said.

‘My life depends on it,' he said, ‘for they'll never be able to get me as long as I can use my bow.'

‘Then I'll recall,' she said, ‘the slap you gave me, and I don't care whether you hold out for a long or a short time.'
¹

‘Everyone has some mark of distinction,' said Gunnar, ‘and I won't ask you again.'

Rannveig spoke: ‘You do evil, and your infamy will long be remembered.'

Gunnar defended himself well and courageously and wounded eight more men so badly that many were close to death. He defended himself until he fell from weariness. They dealt him many bad wounds, but he still evaded them and went on for a long time defending himself, until at last they killed him.

Thorkel Elfaraskald wrote about his defence in this verse:

3.

We have heard how, in the south,

the skipper of the sea-steed                                                                              
sea-steed:
ship

Gunnar, greedy for gore,

guarded himself with his halberd.

Wielding weapons against attack,

he gave wounds to sixteen

of the battle-bearers,                                                                              
battle-bearers:
warriors

and brought death to two.

Gizur spoke: ‘We have now laid low a great warrior, and it has been hard for us, and his defence will be remembered as long as this land is lived in.'

Then he went to Rannveig and said, ‘Will you give us land for our two dead men to be buried in?'

‘Gladly for these two, but even more gladly if it were for all of you,' she said.

‘You have good reason for saying that,' he said, ‘for your loss has been great' – and he gave orders that they should not steal or destroy anything. Then they went away.

Thorgeir Starkadarson said, ‘We won't be safe from the Sigfussons at home on our farms, unless you, Gizur, or Geir stay here in the south for a while.'

‘That's probably true,' said Gizur, and he and Geir drew lots, and it fell to Geir to stay behind. He went to Oddi and settled in there. He had a son named Hroald; he was born out of wedlock and his mother was Bjartey, the sister of Thorvald the Sickly, who was slain at Hestlaek in Grimsnes.
²
Hroald boasted that he had given Gunnar his death blow. He went to Oddi with his father. Thorgeir Starkadar-son boasted of the wound that he had dealt to Gunnar.

Gizur stayed at home at Mosfell.

The slaying of Gunnar was spoken badly of in all parts of the land, and his death brought great sorrow to many.

Njal was distressed over the death of Gunnar, and so were the Sigfussons. They asked Njal whether he thought they should give notice of the slaying and start a case. He said that that was not possible for a man who had been outlawed and that it would be better to kill some men in revenge and whittle down their honour this way.

They raised a burial mound for Gunnar and placed him in it sitting up. Rannveig did not want the halberd to go into the mound and said that only a man who was willing to avenge Gunnar should have it. So no one took the halberd. She was so fierce towards Hallgerd that she was on the verge of killing her, and she said that Hallgerd had brought about the slaying of her son. Hallgerd fled to Grjota, along with her son Grani. They made a division of the property: Hogni was to have the land and the farm at Hlidarendi, and Grani was to have the land which was rented out.

One day at Hlidarendi it happened that a shepherd and a servant woman were driving cattle past Gunnar's mound. Gunnar seemed to them to be in high spirits and reciting verses in the mound. They went home and told this to Gunnar's mother Rannveig, and she asked
them to tell Njal. They went off to Bergthorshvol and told him, and he had them repeat it three times. Then he talked privately with Skarphedin for a long time.

Skarphedin took his axe and went with the servants to Hlidarendi. Hogni and Rannveig welcomed him and were happy to see him. Rannveig asked him to stay for a long time, and he promised to do so. He and Hogni were always going in and out together. Hogni was a courageous and capable man, but not easily persuaded, and for this reason they did not dare to tell him about the apparition.

One evening Skarphedin and Hogni were outside, to the south of Gunnar's mound. The moon was shining brightly, though occasionally dimmed by clouds. It appeared to them that the mound was open, and that Gunnar had turned around and was looking at the moon. They thought they saw four lights burning in the mound, and there were no shadows. They saw that Gunnar was happy and had a very cheerful look. He recited a verse so loudly that they could hear it clearly, even at a distance:

4.

The bright bestower of rings,

the man bold in deeds, who

fought with full courage, the

father of Hogni, spoke:

the shield-holding ghost would sooner

wear his helmet high

than falter in the fray,

rather die for battle-Freyja                                                                              
battle-Freyja:
valkyrie

– and die for battle-Freyja.

Then the mound closed again.

‘Would you have believed this,' said Skarphedin, ‘if others told it to you?'

‘I would believe it if Njal told me,' said Hogni, ‘for it's said that he never lies.'

‘Such an apparition is full of meaning,' said Skarphedin, ‘when Gunnar comes forth and tells us that he preferred to die rather than falter before his enemies. He has taught us what to do.'

‘I won't get anywhere,' said Hogni, ‘unless you help me.'

Skarphedin spoke: ‘I remember how Gunnar behaved after the slaying of your kinsman Sigmund.
¹
I will now give you whatever help I can. My father promised this to Gunnar, whenever you and his mother should need it.'

Then they walked back to Hlidarendi.

Skarphedin spoke: ‘Let's start out at once, tonight, for if word gets around that I'm here, they'll be much more on their guard.'

‘I'll do whatever you say' said Hogni.

When everyone else was in bed, they took their weapons. Hogni took down the halberd, and it rang. Rannveig jumped up in a rage and asked, ‘Who's taking the halberd, after I gave orders that no one should touch it?'

‘I'm bringing it to my father,' said Hogni, ‘so that he may have it with him in Valhalla and use it in battle.'

‘First you must carry it yourself and avenge your father,' she said, ‘because the halberd is announcing death, for one man or more.'

Hogni then went out and told Skarphedin of his words with his grandmother.

After this they went to Oddi. Two ravens flew with them all the way. They came to Oddi during the night and drove the sheep up to the house. Hroald and Tjorvi rushed out and chased the sheep into the lanes, and had their weapons with them.

Skarphedin jumped out and said, ‘You don't have to look further -it's just what you think.'

Then he dealt Tjorvi his death blow.

Hroald had a spear in his hand, and Hogni sprang at him. Hroald made a thrust at him. Hogni severed his spear shaft with the halberd and then drove it through him.

They left the dead men and went up to Thrihyrning. Skarphedin leaped up on the roof and began pulling out the grass, and the people inside thought that it was sheep. Starkad and Thorgeir took their weapons and clothing and ran outside and along the wall, and when Starkad saw Skarphedin he was frightened and wanted to turn back.
Skarphedin struck him dead by the side of the wall. Then Hogni faced Thorgeir and killed him with the halberd.

From there they went to Hof Mord was out in the field and asked for peace and offered full reconciliation. Skarphedin told him about the slaying of the four men and said that he would be going the same way unless he offered Hogni self-judgement – if Hogni were willing to accept it. Hogni said he had not intended to make peace with the slayers of his father, but finally he accepted self-judgement.

Njal worked at getting those who had to take action for the slayings of Starkad and Thorgeir to agree to a settlement, and a district assembly was called and men were appointed to arbitrate. All the facts were weighed, even the attack on Gunnar, although he had been in a state of outlawry. Mord paid what payments there were, for they did not finish fixing the amount against him until they had fixed the amount in the other case, and they balanced the one side against the other. Then they were fully reconciled.
¹

But at the Thing there was much talk about the case between Geir the Godi and Hogni,
²
and the outcome was that they agreed to a settlement, and they kept to this settlement from then on. Geir the Godi lived at Hlid until his death, and he is now out of the saga.

Njal asked, on behalf of Hogni, for the hand of Alfeid, the daughter of Veturlidi the Poet, and she was married to him. Their son was Ari, who sailed to Shetland and married there. Einar the Shetlander, a very brave man, is descended from him.

Hogni kept up his friendship with Njal, and is now out of this saga.
³

To turn now to Kolskegg: he went to Norway and stayed at Vik that winter, and the next summer he went east to Denmark and entered the service of King Svein Fork-beard
¹
and received great honour there.

One night he dreamed that a man came to him. This man was gleaming with light. Kolskegg dreamed that the man woke him up.

The man spoke to him: ‘Rise and come with me.'

‘What do you want with me?' asked Kolskegg.

‘I shall find you a wife, and you shall be my knight.'

Kolskegg dreamed that he agreed to this, and then he woke up. He went to a wise man and told him the dream, and he interpreted it to mean that he should travel to southern lands and become God's knight.

Kolskegg was baptized in Denmark but found no contentment there and went east to Russia and spent one winter there. From there he went to Constantinople and became a mercenary. The last that was reported of him was that he married in Constantinople and became a leader in the Varangian guard
²
and stayed there until his death; he is now out of the saga.

To tell now about Thrain Sigfusson's coming to Norway: they reached Halogaland in the north and then continued south to Trondheim and to Lade. When Earl Hakon heard about this, he sent men to find out what men were on the ship, and they came back and told Hakon who they were. The earl then sent for Thrain Sigfusson, and Thrain came to him. The earl asked who his kin were, and he said that he was closely related to Gunnar of Hlidarendi.

The earl spoke: ‘You will benefit from that, for I've met many Icelanders, but none to match him.'

Thrain spoke: ‘My lord, are you willing to have me here with you over the winter?'

The earl took him on. Thrain stayed there that winter and was well treated.

There was a man named Kol, a Viking. He was the son of Asmund Ash-side of Smaland. Kol lay waiting out east in the Gota river, with five ships and a large band of men. From there he made his way to Vestfold in Norway and made a surprise attack on Hallvard Soti. They found Hallvard in a loft, and he defended himself well until they set the place on fire. Then he surrendered, but they killed him and seized much booty and sailed back to Lodose.

News of this reached Earl Hakon, and he had Kol declared an outlaw throughout his realm and set a price on his head.

One day the earl spoke these words: ‘Gunnar of Hlidarendi is too far away from us now; he would kill this outlaw of mine if he were here, but now he will be killed by Icelanders, and it's a bad thing he didn't come back to us.'

Thrain Sigfusson answered, ‘I'm not Gunnar, but I'm kin to him, and I'm ready to take on this venture.'

The earl said, ‘I accept this eagerly. I'll fit you out well for your mission.'

Then Eirik, the earl's son, spoke up: ‘You've made fine promises to many men, father, but you've been uneven in carrying them out. This is a most difficult mission, for this Viking is tough and a vicious one to deal with. You must choose your men and ships with great care.'

Thrain said, ‘I will go, even though the venture is not promising.'

The earl gave him five ships, all well manned.

With Thrain were Gunnar Lambason and Lambi Sigurdarson. Gunnar was a son of one of Thrain's brothers and had come to him as a young man, and they were very fond of each other. Earl Hakon's son Eirik helped them: he looked over the crew and the supply of weapons and made changes when he thought it necessary. Finally, when they were ready, Eirik gave them a pilot.