Icelandic Saga - Burnt Njal (chap. 116-119) lyrics

CHAPTER CXVI. OF FLOSI AND MORD AND THE SONS OF SIGFUS. The sons of Sigfus heard how Flosi was at Holtford, and they rode thither to meet him, and there were Kettle of the Mark, and Lambi his brother, Thorkell and Mord, the sons of Sigfus, Sigmund their brother, and Lambi Sigurd's son, and Gunnar Lambi's son, and Grani Gunnar's son, and Vebrand Hamond's son. Flosi stood up to meet them, and greeted them gladly. So they went down to the river. Flosi had the whole story from them about the slaying, and there was no difference between them and Kettle of the Mark's story. Flosi spoke to Kettle of the Mark, and said-- "This now I ask of thee; how tightly are your hearts knit as to this suit, thou and the other sons of Sigfus?" "My wish is," said Kettle, "that there should be peace between us, but yet I have sworn an oath not to part from this suit till it has been brought somehow to an end, and to lay my life on it." "Thou art a good man and true," said Flosi, "and it is well to have such men with one." Then Grani Gunnar's son and Lambi Sigurd's son both spoke together, and said-- "We wish for outlawry and d**h." "It is not given us," said Flosi, "both to share and choose, we must take what we can get." "I have had it in my heart," says Grani, "ever since they slew Thrain by Markfleet, and after that his son Hauskuld, never to be atoned with them by a lasting peace, for I would willingly stand by when they were all slain, every man of them." "Thou hast stood so near to them," said Flosi, "that thou mightest have avenged these things hadst thou had the heart and manhood. Methinks thou and many others now ask for what ye would give much money hereafter never to have had a share in. I see this clearly, that though we slay Njal or his sons, still they are men of so great worth, and of such good family, that there will be such a blood feud and hue and cry after them, that we shall have to fall on our knees before many a man, and beg for help, ere we get an atonement and find our way out of this strait. Ye may make up your minds, then, that many will become poor who before had great goods, but some of you will lose both goods and life." Mord Valgard's Son rode to meet Flosi, and said he would ride to the Thing with him with all his men. Flosi took that well, and raised a matter of a wedding with him, that he should give away Rannveiga his daughter to Starkad Flosi's brother's son, who dwelt at Staffell. Flosi did this because he thought he would so make sure both of his faithfulness and force. Mord took the wedding kindly, but handed the matter over to Gizur the white, and bade him talk about it at the Thing. Mord had to wife Thorkatla, Gizur the white's daughter. They two, Mord and Flosi, rode both together to the Thing, and talked the whole day, and no man knew aught of their counsel. CHAPTER CXVII. NJAL AND SKARPHEDINN TALK TOGETHER. Now, we must say how Njal said to Skarphedinn-- "What plan have ye laid down for yourselves, thou and thy brothers and Kari?" "Little reck we of dreams in most matters," said Skarphedinn; "but if thou must know, we shall ride to Tongue to Asgrim Ellidagrim's son, and thence to the Thing; but what meanest thou to do about thine own journey, father?" "I shall ride to the Thing," says Njal, "for it belongs to my honour not to be severed from your suit so long as I live. I ween that many men will have good words to say of me, and so I shall stand you in good stead, and do you no harm." There, too, was Thorhall Asgrim's son, and Njal's foster-son. The sons of Njal laughed at him because he was clad in a coat of russet, and asked how long he meant to wear that? "I shall have thrown it off," he said, "when I have to follow up the blood-feud for my foster father." "There will ever be most good in thee," said Njal, "when there is most need of it." So they all busked them to ride away from home, and were nigh thirty men in all, and rode till they came to Thursowater. Then came after them Njal's kinsmen, Thorleif crow, and Thorgrim the big; they were Holt-Thorir's sons, and offered their help and following to Njal's sons, and they took that gladly. So they rode altogether across Thursowater, until they came on Laxwater bank, and took a rest and baited their horses there, and there Hjallti's Skeggi's son came to meet them, and Njal's sons fell to talking with him, and they talked long and low. "Now, I will show," said Hjallti, "that I am not black-hearted; Njal has asked me for help, and I have agreed to it, and given my word to aid him; he has often given me and many others the worth of it in cunning counsel." Hjallti tells Njal all about Flosi's doings. They sent Thorhall on to Tongue to tell Asgrim that they would be there that evening; and Asgrim made ready at once, and was out of doors to meet them when Njal rode into the town. Njal was clad in a blue cape, and had a felt hat on his head, and a small axe in his hand. Asgrim helped Njal off his horse, and led him and sate him down in his own seat. After that they all went in, Njal's sons and Kari. Then Asgrim went out. Hjallti wished to turn away, and thought there were too many there; but Asgrim caught hold of his reins, and said he should never have his way in riding off, and made men unsaddle their horses, and led Hjallti in and sate him down by Njal's aide; but Thorleif and his brother sat on the other bench and their men with them. Asgrim sate him down on a stool before Njal, and asked-- "What says thy heart about our matter?" "It speaks rather heavily," says Njal, "for I am afraid that we shall have no lucky men with us in the suit; but I would, friend, that thou shouldest send after all the men who belong to thy Thing, and ride to the Althing with me." "I have always meant to do that," says Asgrim; "and this I will promise thee at the same time--that I will never leave thy cause while I can get any men to follow me." But all those who were in the house thanked him, and said, that was bravely spoken. They were there that night, but the day after all Asgrim's band came thither. And after that they all rode together till they come up on the Thingfield, and fit up their booths. CHAPTER CXVIII. ASGRIM AND NJAL'S SONS PRAY MEN FOR HELP. By that time Flosi had come to the Thing, and filled all his booths. Runolf filled the Dale-dwellers' booths, and Mord the booths of the men from Rangriver. Hall of the Side had long since come from the east, but scarce any of the other men; but still Hall of the Side had come with a great band, and joined this at once to Flosi's company, and begged him to take an atonement and to make peace. Hall was a wise man and good-hearted, Flosi answered him well in everything, but gave way in nothing. Hall asked what men had promised him help? Flosi named Mord Valgard's son, and said he had asked for his daughter at the hand of his kinsman Starkad. Hall said she was a good match, but it was ill dealing with Mord, "and that thou wilt put to the proof ere this Thing be over". After that they ceased talking. One day Njal and Asgrim had a long talk in secret. Then all at once Asgrim sprang up and said to Njal's sons-- "We must set about seeking friends, that we may not be overborne by force; for this suit will be followed up boldly." Then Asgrim went out, and Helgi Njal's son next; then Kari Solmund's son; then Grim Njal's son; then Skarphedinn; then Thorhall; then Thorgrim the big; then Thorleif crow. They went to the booth of Gizur the white and inside it. Gizur stood up to meet them, and bade them sit down and drink. "Not thitherward," says Asgrim, "tends our way, and we will speak our errand out loud, and not mutter and mouth about it. What help shall I have from thee, as thou art my kinsman?" "Jorunn my sister," said Gizur, "would wish that I should not shrink from standing by thee; and so it shall be now and hereafter, that we will both of us have the same fate." Asgrim thanked him, and went away afterwards. Then Skarphedinn asked, "Whither shall we go now?" "To the booths of the men of Olfus," says Asgrim. So they went thither, and Asgrim asked whether Skapti Thorod's son were in the booth? He was told that he was. Then they went inside the booth. Skapti sate on the cross bench, and greeted Asgrim, and he took the greeting well. Skapti offered Asgrim a seat by his side, but Asgrim said he should only stay there a little while, "but still we have an errand to thee". "Let me hear it," says Skapti. "I wish to beg thee for thy help, that thou wilt stand by us in our suit." "One thing I had hoped," says Skapti, "and that is, that neither you nor your troubles would ever come into my dwelling." "Such things are ill-spoken," says Asgrim, "when a man is the last to help others, when most lies on his aid." "Who is yon man," says Skapti, "before whom four men walk, a big burly man, and pale-faced, unlucky-looking, well-knit, and troll-like?" "My name is Skarphedinn," he answers, "and thou hast often seen me at the Thing; but in this I am wiser than thou, that I have no need to ask what thy name is. Thy name is Skapti Thorod's son, but before thou calledst thyself 'Bristle-poll,' after thou hadst slain Kettle of Elda; then thou shavedst thy poll, and puttedst pitch on thy head, and then thou hiredst thralls to cut up a sod of turf, and thou creptest underneath it to spend the night. After that thou wentest to Thorolf Lopt's son of Eyrar, and he took thee on board, and bore thee out here in his meal sacks." After that Asgrim and his band went out, and Skarphedinn asked-- "Whither shall we go now?" "To Snorri the Priest's booth," says Asgrim. Then they went to Snorri's booth. There was a man outside before the booth, and Asgrim asked whether Snorri were in the booth. The man said he was. Asgrim went into the booth, and all the others. Snorri was sitting on the cross bench, and Asgrim went and stood before him, and hailed him well. Snorri took his greeting blithely, and bade him sit down. Asgrim said he should be only a short time there, "but we have an errand with thee". Snorri bade him tell it. "I would," said Asgrim, "that thou wouldst come with me to the court, and stand by me with thy help, for thou art a wise man, and a great man of business." "Suits fall heavy on us now," says Snorri the Priest, "and now many men push forward against us, and so we are slow to take up the troublesome suits of other men from other quarters." "Thou mayest stand excused," says Asgrim, "for thou art not in our debt for any service." "I know," says Snorri, "that thou art a good man and true, and I will promise thee this, that I will not be against thee, and not yield help to thy foes." Asgrim thanked him, and Snorri the Priest asked-- "Who is that man before whom four go, pale-faced, and sharp-featured, and who shows his front teeth, and has his axe aloft on his shoulder?" "My name is Hedinn," he says, "but some men call me Skarphedinn by my full name; but what more hast thou to say to me?" "This," said Snorri the Priest, "that methinks thou art a well-knit, ready-handed man, but yet I guess that the best part of thy good fortune is past, and I ween thou hast not long to live." "That is well," says Skarphedinn, "for that is a debt we all have to pay, but still it were more needful to avenge thy father than to foretell my fate in this way." "Many have said that before," says Snorri, "and I will not be angry at such words." After that they went out, and got no help there. Then they fared to the booths of the men of Skagafirth. There Hafr the wealthy had his booth. The mother of Hafr was named Thoruna, she was a daughter of Asbjorn baldpate of Myrka, the son of Hrosbjorn. Asgrim and his band went into the booth, and Hafr sate in the midst of it, and was talking to a man. Asgrim went up to him, and hailed him well; he took it kindly, and bade him sit down. "This I would ask of thee," said Asgrim, "that thou wouldst grant me and my sons-in-law help." Hafr answered sharp and quick, and said he would have nothing to do with their troubles. "But still I must ask who that pale-faced man is before whom four men go, so ill-looking, as though he had come out of the sea-crags." "Never mind, milksop that thou art!" said Skarphedinn, "who I am, for I will dare to go forward wherever thou standest before me, and little would I fear though such striplings were in my path. 'Twere rather thy duty, too, to get back thy sister Swanlauga, whom Eydis ironsword and his messmate Stediakoll took away out of thy house, but thou didst not dare to do aught against them." "Let us go out," said Asgrim, "there is no hope of help here." Then they went out to the booths of men of Modruvale, and asked whether Gudmund the powerful were in the booth, but they were told he was. Then they went into the booth. There was a high seat in the midst of it, and there sate Gudmund the powerful. Asgrim went and stood before him, and hailed him. Gudmund took his greeting well, and asked him to sit down. "I will not sit," said Asgrim, "but I wish to pray thee for help, for thou art a bold man and a mighty chief." "I will not be against thee," said Gudmund, "but if I see fit to yield thee help, we may well talk of that afterwards," and so he treated them well and kindly in every way. Asgrim thanked him for his words, and Gudmund said-- "There is one man in your band at whom I have gazed for awhile, and he seems to me more terrible than most men that I have seen." "Which is he?" says Asgrim. "Four go before him," says Gudmund; "dark brown is his hair, and pale is his face; tall of growth and sturdy. So quick and shifty in his manliness, that I would rather have his following than that of ten other men; but yet the man is unlucky-looking." "I know," said Skarphedinn, "that thou speakest at me, but it does not go in the same way as to luck with me and thee. I have blame, indeed, from the slaying of Hauskuld, the Whiteness priest, as is fair and right; but both Thorkel foulmouth and Thorir Helgi's son spread abroad bad stories about thee, and that has tried thy temper very much." Then they went out, and Skarphedinn said-- "Whither shall we go now?" "To the booths of the men of Lightwater," said Asgrim. There Thorkel foulmouth had set up his booth. Thorkel foulmouth had been abroad and worked his way to fame in other lands. He had slain a robber east in Jemtland's wood, and then he fared on east into Sweden, and was a messmate of Saurkvir the churl, and they harried eastward ho; but to the east of Baltic side.[67] Thorkel had to fetch water for them one evening; then he met a wild man of the woods,[68] and struggled against him long; but the end of it was that he slew the wild man. Thence he fared east into Adalsyssla, and there he slew a flying fire-drake. After that he fared back to Sweden, and thence to Norway, and so out to Iceland, and let these deeds of derring do be carved over his shut bed, and on the stool before his high-seat. He fought, too, on Lightwater way with his brothers against Gudmund the powerful, and the men of Lightwater won the day. He and Thorir Helgi's son spread abroad bad stories about Gudmund. Thorkel said there was no man in Iceland with whom he would not fight in single combat, or yield an inch to, if need were. He was called Thorkel foulmouth, because he spared no one with whom he had to do either in word or deed. CHAPTER CXIX. OF SKARPHEDINN AND THORKEL FOULMOUTH. Asgrim and his fellows went to Thorkel foulmouth's booth, and Asgrim said then to his companions, "This booth Thorkel foulmouth owns, a great champion, and it were worth much to us to get his help. We must here take heed in everything, for he is self-willed and bad tempered; and now I will beg thee, Skarphedinn, not to let thyself be led into our talk." Skarphedinn smiled at that. He was so clad, he had on a blue kirtle and gray breeks, and black shoes on his feet, coming high up his leg; he had a silver belt about him, and that same axe in his hand with which he slew Thrain, and which he called the "ogress of war," a round buckler, and a silken band round his brow, and his hair was brushed back behind his ears. He was the most soldier-like of men, and by that all men knew him. He went in his appointed place, and neither before nor behind. Now they went into the booth and into its inner chamber. Thorkel sate in the middle of the cross-bench, and his men away from him on all sides. Asgrim hailed him, and Thorkel took the greeting well, and Asgrim said to him-- "For this have we come hither, to ask help of thee, and that thou wouldst come to the court with us." "What need can ye have of my help," said Thorkel, "when ye have already gone to Gudmund; he must surely have promised thee his help?" "We could not get his help," says Asgrim. "Then Gudmund thought the suit likely to make him foes," said Thorkel; "and so no doubt it will be, for such deeds are the worst that have ever been done; nor do I know what can have driven you to come hither to me, and to think that I should be easier to undertake your suit than Gudmund, or that I would back a wrongful quarrel." Then Asgrim held his peace, and thought it would be hard work to win him over. Then Thorkel went on and said, "Who is that big and ugly fellow, before whom four men go, pale-faced and sharp-featured, and unlucky-looking, and cross-grained?" "My name is Skarphedinn," said Skarphedinn, "and thou hast no right to pick me out, a guiltless man, for thy railing. It never has befallen me to make my father bow down before me, or to have fought against him, as thou didst with thy father. Thou hast ridden little to the Althing, or toiled in quarrels at it, and no doubt it is handier for thee to mind thy milking pails at home than to be here at Axewater in idleness. But stay, it were as well if thou pickedst out from thy teeth that steak of mare's rump which thou atest ere thou rodest to the Thing, while thy shepherd looked on all the while, and wondered that thou couldst work such filthiness!" Then Thorkel sprang up in mickle wrath, and clutched his short sword and said-- "This sword I got in Sweden when I slew the greatest champion, but since then I have slain many a man with it, and as soon as ever I reach thee I will drive it through thee, and thou shall take that for thy bitter words." Skarphedinn stood with his axe aloft, and smiled scornfully and said-- "This axe I had in my hand when I leapt twelve ells across Markfleet, and slew Thrain Sigfus' son, and eight of them stood before me, and none of them could touch me. Never have I aimed weapon at man that I have not smitten him." And with that he tore himself from his brothers, and Kari his brother-in-law, and strode forward to Thorkel. Then Skarphedinn said-- "Now, Thorkel foulmouth, do one of these two things: sheathe thy sword and sit thee down, or I drive the axe into thy head and cleave thee down to the chine." Then Thorkel sate him down and sheathed the sword, and such a thing never happened to him either before or since. Then Asgrim and his band go out, and Skarphedinn said-- "Whither shall we now go?" "Home to out booths," answered Asgrim. "Then we fare hack to our booths wearied of begging," says Skarphedinn. "In many places," said Asgrim, "hast thou been rather sharp-tongued, but here now, in what Thorkel had a share methinks thou hast only treated him as is fitting." Then they went home to their booths, and told Njal, word for word, all that had been done. "Things," he said, "draw on to what must be." Now Gudmund the powerful heard what had pa**ed between Thorkel and Skarphedinn, and said-- "Ye all know how things fared between us and the men of Lightwater, but I have never suffered such scorn and mocking at their hands as has befallen Thorkel from Skarphedinn, and this is just as it should be." Then he said to Einar of Thvera, his brother, "Thou shalt go with all my band, and stand by Njal's sons when the courts go out to try suits; but if they need help next summer, then I myself will yield them help". Einar agreed to that, and sent and told Asgrim, and Asgrim said-- "There is no man like Gudmund for nobleness of mind," and then he told it to Njal.