Gisli Sursson's Saga and The Saga of the People of Eyri

by Martin Regal

  When Snorri the Godi turned back to the door, his son Thor-odd was standing in front of him and he had a serious wound to his shoulder. He was then twelve years old. Snorri asked who had wounded him.

  ‘Steinthor of Eyri,’ he said.

  Thorleif Kimbi responded, ‘He has now repaid you fairly for not wanting to go after him. In my opinion we should not settle for this.’

  ‘That’s how it will have to be for now,’ said Snorri the Godi, ‘but it won’t be the end of the matter.’ He asked Thorleif to tell the men that they would be going after them.

  Steinthor and his men had left the field by the time they saw men riding after them. They went across the river and then turned up into an avalanche named Geirvor, and prepared themselves for the encounter there, since it was a good place for a fight because of all the rocks. When Snorri’s troop came up the avalanche, Steinthor shot a spear over them for good luck, according to ancient custom,22 and the spear found its mark, hitting Snorri’s kinsman, Mar Hallvardsson, rendering him unfit to fight.

  When Snorri the Godi was told this, he said, ‘It’s been proved true then, that it’s not always best to walk last.’

  After that a serious battle began. Steinthor was at the forefront of his troop, striking on both sides, but the ornamented sword was not much good whenever it hit a shield, and he had to keep straightening it out under his foot. He kept attacking wherever Snorri the Godi was, and his kinsman, Styr Thorgrimsson, was fighting fiercely beside him. He was the first to kill a man from his son-in-law Snorri’s side.

  When Snorri the Godi saw that, he said to Styr, ‘That’s how you avenge Thorodd, your daughter’s son, whom Steinthor has mortally wounded. You’re no average villain.’

  ‘I can quickly compensate you for that,’ replied Styr.

  And he shifted the direction of his shield and joined Snorri the Godi’s troop and killed a second man, this time from Steinthor’s troop.

  At that moment Aslak and his son Illugi the Mighty arrived from Langidal, and tried to intervene in the fight. They had thirty men with them. Vermund the Slender joined their side, and they pleaded with Snorri the Godi to stop the killing. Snorri asked the people of Eyri to accept a truce, and the peacemakers asked Steinthor to make a truce on behalf of his men. Steinthor then asked Snorri to stretch out his hand, and he did. Steinthor raised up his sword and struck at Snorri the Godi’s hand, causing a loud crash. The blow landed on his temple ring and almost broke it in two, but Snorri was not hurt.

  Then Thorodd Thorbrandsson called out, ‘They won’t keep any truce, and we won’t stop now until all the Thorlakssons are killed.’

  Snorri the Godi replied, ‘There will be turmoil in the district if all the Thorlakssons are killed, so we should keep the truce if Steinthor will abide by what we agreed to before.’

  Then everyone urged Steinthor to accept the truce. In the end a truce was arranged so that everyone could travel safely back to their homes.

  To turn to the men of Breidavik, they found out that Snorri the Godi had gone with a large following to Alftafjord. They took their horses and rode after Steinthor as hard as they could, reaching the ridge at Ulfarsfell when the battle was being fought on the avalanche. Some people say that Snorri the Godi could see Bjorn and his men up on the ridge when he turned in that direction, which was why the truce-making with Steinthor was so easy.

  Steinthor and Bjorn met at Orlygsstadir, and Bjorn said that things had gone according to his prediction.

  ‘In my opinion,’ he said, ‘you should turn back and pursue them now.’

  ‘I want to hold my truce with Snorri the Godi however our dealings with him turn out in the future,’ Steinthor replied.

  After that everyone rode back to his own home, except Thord Blig, who had to stay at Eyri to recover from his wounds. In the battle of Alftafjord five men on Steinthor’s side were killed, and two from Snorri the Godi’s side, and many were wounded on both sides, since it was such a fierce battle.

  Thormod Trefilsson described it in his poem ‘Words of the Raven’:

  33.

  The feeder of the swan battle-din’s swell: blood; its swan: raven;

  of battle-din’s swell feeder of the raven: warrior

  filled the eagle with a wolf’s

  feast in Alftafjord.

  There at the storm of swords storm of swords: battle

  Snorri robbed the lives

  from five seized men;

  so he punishes his enemies.

  Thorbrand had been at the battle as a peacemaker along with Aslak and Illugi, and he had asked them to look for a settlement. He thanked them warmly for their support, and Snorri for his assistance. Snorri the Godi went back home to Helgafell after the battle.

  The arrangement then was that the Thorbrandssons should divide their time between Helgafell and home at Alftafjord until the case was resolved, since there were still hard feelings, as might be expected when there was no truce at all between men once they were back home after the fight.

  45 That summer, before the battle at Alftafjord, a ship had docked at Dagverdarnes, as was told earlier. Steinthor of Eyri had bought a good ten-oared boat from the men on the ship, but when he was taking the boat back home he was caught in a strong westerly gale that swept them east around Thorsnes and landed them at Thingskalanes, where they brought their boat ashore at Gruflunaust. They then walked across the ridges to Bakki, and from there home by ship. But the ten-oared boat was not fetched that autumn, and remained at Gruflunaust.

  One morning, just before Yule, Steinthor got up early and said he wanted to fetch his boat from Thingskalanes. His brothers, Bergthor and Thord Blig, joined him on the journey. Thord’s wounds were now very well healed so that he could bear weapons again. Also in the party were two Norwegians staying with Steinthor. Altogether there were eight of them and they sailed across the fjord to Seljahofdi, from where they walked over to Bakki, where their brother Thormod joined them, making them nine altogether.

  Hofstadir bay was completely frozen over right out to Bakki the Greater, so they walked across the ice and on over the isthmus to Vigrafjord, which was also entirely iced over. In that fjord the water ebbed all the way out until it was dry, so that the ice rested on mud at low-tide, and the rocks in the fjord jutted up out of the ice, which was broken up around them. There were a lot of uneven ice floes past the rocks, and powdery snow had fallen over the ice, making it very slippery.

  Steinthor and his men went over to Thingskalanes and dragged the boat out of the boat shed. They took both the oars and the benches out of the boat, leaving them on the ice along with their heaviest weapons and clothes. Then they hauled the boat along the fjord and across the isthmus to Hofstadir bay and all the way out to the rim of the ice. Then they went back for their clothes and other things. On their way back to Vigrafjord, they saw six men going north from Thingskalanes and they were travelling fast across the ice, headed for Helgafell.

  Steinthor and his men suspected that it might be the Thorbrandssons, on their way to Helgafell for Yule. They started going very fast back across the fjord to where their clothes and weapons were. And it was the Thorbrandssons in fact, just as Steinthor suspected. When they saw that there were men running out along the fjord, they believed they knew who they must be and thought that the men of Eyri were intending to attack them. They too started moving very fast, heading towards the rock where they intended to take them on. The race was on, both sides moving as fast as they could, but the Thorbrandssons arrived at the rock first.

  When Steinthor’s men raced towards the rock, Thorleif Kimbi hurled a spear into their midst and it hit Bergthor Thorlaksson in his stomach, putting him out of the fight. He walked across the ice and lay down there, but Steinthor and some of his men launched an attack on the rock, while others went to get their weapons. The Thorbrandssons defended themselves courageously. They had a good position for fighting because there were ice-sheets jutting up all around the rock and they were extremely slippery. They had therefore h
ardly sustained any wounds by the time the others who were getting the weapons came back.

  Steinthor and five of his men attacked the rock but the easterners ran out of range across the ice from the rock. They had bows and shot at those on the rock, making it very dangerous for them.

  When he saw that Steinthor was drawing his sword, Thorleif Kimbi said, ‘You’re still using the white-hilted sword, Steinthor, but I don’t know whether you’re still using the blunt edge you had last autumn at Alftafjord.’

  ‘I’d like you to find out for yourself before we part whether or not I have a blunt edge,’ Steinthor replied.

  Their attack on the rock was slow, and when they had fought for quite some time, Thord Blig made a run at the rock, trying to lunge his spear into Thorleif Kimbi since he was always at the forefront of his men. The spear hit his shield, but in fending it off so powerfully, his feet slipped from beneath him on the broken ice that was on a slope, and he fell down and slipped backwards off the rock. Thorleif Kimbi ran after him, wanting to kill him before he could get to his feet. Freystein Bofiran after Thorleif, and he had ice-spurs on his shoes.

  Steinthor ran up too and brought his shield down over Thord when Thorleif tried to strike him, and with his other hand he struck at Thorleif Kimbi and cut away his leg below the knee. At that Freystein Bofilunged at Steinthor, aiming at his stomach, but seeing this Steinthor leapt up into the air and the spear passed between his legs. Steinthor performed these three things at once, just as described.

  After that Steinthor struck at Freystein with his sword, and the blow landed on his neck and made a loud noise.

  ‘Was that one bad for you, Bofi?’ asked Steinthor.

  ‘A bad one indeed,’ Freystein replied, ‘but not as bad as you thought, because I’m not hurt.’

  He was wearing a felt hood with a piece of horn sewn into the collar, which is where the blow landed. Freystein then turned back up towards the rock. Steinthor told him not to run if he was not hurt. Freystein turned to meet the attack and they fought hard, but Steinthor was in danger of slipping since the blocks of ice were both steep and slippery, while Freystein stood firmly on his ice-spurs and struck both hard and often. Their contest ended when Steinthor struck Freystein above the hips with his sword so that the man was cut in two.

  After that they went up on to the rock and did not stop fighting until all the Thorbrandssons had fallen. Then Thord Blig said that they should sever the heads from the bodies of all the Thorbrandssons, but Steinthor said he did not want to slay men who were lying down. Then they went down from the rock to where Bergthor lay, and he was still able to speak. They carried him with them back over the ice and across the isthmus to their boat. Then they rowed their boat over to Bakki in the evening.

  Snorri the Godi’s shepherd had been at Oxnabrekkur during the day and had seen the clash at Vigrafjord from there. He went home at once and told Snorri the Godi that there had been an encounter that day at Vigrafjord and it was hardly a friendly one. Snorri and eight of his men took their weapons and went over to the fjord. But by the time they got there, Steinthor and his men had made their way across the iced-over fjord.

  Snorri and his men examined the men’s wounds, and while only Freystein Bofiwas dead, they all had serious wounds. Thorleif Kimbi called out to Snorri the Godi and told him to go after Steinthor and his men, and not to let any of them get away. Then Snorri the Godi went over to where Bergthor had lain and saw a large bloodstain there. He lifted up the blood and snow together in his hand, squeezed it and put it in his mouth, and asked who had bled there. Thorleif Kimbi said that Bergthor had been bleeding. Snorri said that it was blood from an internal wound.

  ‘That may be,’ said Thorleif, ‘because it was caused by a spear.’

  ‘I think that this is the blood of a doomed man,’ said Snorri, ‘and we won’t go after him.’

  Then the Thorbrandssons were carried back to Helgafell and their wounds bandaged. Thorodd Thorbrandsson had such a serious wound at the back of his neck that he could not hold up his head. He was wearing trousers with feet in them and they were completely soaked in blood. Snorri the Godi’s servant had to pull them off him, but when he tried to remove the trousers, he could not get them off.

  ‘They’re not lying about you Thorbrandssons when they call you stylish dressers,’ he said, ‘since you have such tight-fitting clothes that they can’t be taken off you.’

  ‘You can’t be pulling hard enough,’ said Thorodd.

  He then pressed one of his feet against the bench and tugged with all his might, but the trousers would not come off. Then Snorri the Godi went up and felt around the leg and discovered that a spear was lodged in it between the Achilles tendon and the shin, and it had pinned the trouser to the leg. Snorri then said that he was no average fool not to have considered such a possibility.

  Snorri Thorbrandsson was the fittest of the brothers and in the evening he sat at the table next to his namesake, and they had curds and cheese. Snorri the Godi noticed that his namesake was not making much headway with the cheese, and asked him why he was eating so slowly. Snorri Thorbrandsson answered, saying that lambs that had been recently gagged were the most reluctant to eat. Then Snorri the Godi felt around his throat, and discovered an arrow sticking through the throat and into the base of the tongue. Snorri the Godi then took a pair of pincers and pulled out the arrow, and after that he could eat.

  Snorri the Godi healed all the Thorbrandssons. And when Thorodd’s neck began to heal, his head drooped to one side slightly. Thorodd said that Snorri wanted to heal him by leaving him maimed, but Snorri the Godi said he expected his head would stand up once the sinews knitted. Thorodd wanted nothing less than that the wound be opened up and the head set straighter. But it turned out as Snorri thought, that when the sinews knitted his head straightened up, although afterwards he was only able to bend his head slightly. Thorleif Kimbi always walked with a wooden leg after he was wounded.

  46 When Steinthor of Eyri and his men arrived at the boat shed at Bakki, they brought their boat up on to the shore, and the brothers went back up to the farm. Down at the shore a tent was put up over Bergthor for the night. It is said that Thorgerd, the mistress of the house, would not go to bed with her husband Thormod that evening. But just then, a man came up from the boat shed and told them that Bergthor was dead. When she heard that, the mistress of the house got into bed and there is no mention of any further quarrelling by the couple over this. Steinthor went home to Eyri in the morning and the rest of the winter passed without any violent incidents between men.

  But in the spring as it was getting on to the Summons Days, people of goodwill considered it a perplexing matter that the leading men of the district should be at odds with each another and having fights. The best men, who were friends with both sides, came forward to try to find a settlement between them. Their leader was Vermund the Slender, and they included many people of goodwill who were related to both sides. In time a truce was arranged and they were reconciled, and it is the opinion of most people that Vermund delivered the verdict in the case. He arbitrated the settlement at the Thorsnes Assembly and he had behind him all the wisest men who were present.

  The details of the settlement were that all the killings and assaults on each side were weighed up. Thord Blig’s wound from Alftafjord was equated with the wounding of Snorri the Godi’s son, Thorodd. Mar Hallvardsson’s wound and the blow Steinthor delivered to Snorri the Godi were set against the killing of the three men who died at Alftafjord. The killings by Styr of one man from each side were said to be equal. The death of Bergthor at Vigrafjord was considered the same as the wounding of the three Thorbrandssons, and the killing of Freystein Bofiwas set against the man from Steinthor’s side, who was previously not in the tally, but who died at Alftafjord. Thorleif Kimbi was compensated for the severing of his leg. And the man from Snorri the Godi’s side who was killed at Alftafjord made up for Thorleif Kimbi’s assault when he started the fight. Then everyone else’s wounds were
weighed up and compensation awarded for any disparity that seemed to exist, and so everyone left the assembly reconciled, and this settlement lasted as long as both Steinthor and Snorri the Godi were alive.

  47 The same summer after the settlement Thorodd the Tax-trader invited his brother-in-law Snorri the Godi to a feast at his farm at Froda, and Snorri went with eight men. While Snorri was at the feast, Thorodd complained to him that he considered himself to have been provoked and humiliated by the visits Bjorn Asbrandsson made to his wife Thurid, who was Snorri the Godi’s sister. Thorodd told him that he thought Snorri ought to do something about this awkward situation. Snorri stayed at the feast for several nights and then Thorodd saw him off with fine gifts. Snorri the Godi rode south across the heath, declaring that he planned to go to the ship at the mouth of Hraunhofn. This was during the hay harvest in summer.

  When they came south to Kamb heath, Snorri said, ‘We can ride down here from the heath to Kamb. I want you to know that I am planning an attack on Bjorn, to kill him if possible. But I don’t want to attack him inside his farmhouse, because it’s strongly built and Bjorn is strong and brave, and we only have a small force. Those men who have attacked such an outstanding man inside his house have not had much success, even with a greater force, such as the time when Geir the Godi and Gizur the White attacked Gunnar inside his house at Hlidarendi23 with a force of eighty men. He was fighting alone from inside, but still some men were wounded and some killed and they were giving up the assault until Geir the Godi worked out with his own wits that Gunnar was running out of arrows. Now in the light of this, if Bjorn is outside, as might be expected since it is a good day for drying hay, then I want you, Mar, to deal him some wounds. But be careful, because he isn’t a chicken-hearted man and a hard fight is likely from the vicious wolf that he is, if the first blow he gets doesn’t cause his immediate death.’