Now Snorri the Priest hears how the causes stood, and then he
begins to draw up his men in arry below "the Great Rift," between
it and Hadbooth, and laid down beforehand to his men how they
were to behave.
Now the messenger comes to Thorhall Asgrim's son, and tells him
how things stood, and how Mord Valgard's son and his friends
would all be made outlaws, and the suits for manslaughter be
brought to naught.
But when he heard that, he was so shocked at it that he could not
utter a word. He jumped up then from his bed, and clutched with
both hands his spear, Skarphedinn's gift, and drove it through
his foot; then flesh clung to the spear, and the eye of the boil
too, for he had cut it clean out of the foot, but a torrent of
blood and matter poured out, so that it fell in a stream along
the floor. Now he went out of the booth unhalting, and walked so
hard that the messenger could not keep up with him, and so he
goes until he came to the Fifth Court. There he met Grim the
Red, Flosi's kinsman, and as soon as ever they met, Thorhall
thrust at him with the spear, and smote him on the shield and
clove it in twain, but the spear passed right through him, so
that the point came out between his shoulders. Thorhall cast him
off his spear.
Then Kari Solmund's son caught sight of that, and said to Asgrim,
"Here, now, is come Thorhall thy son, and has straightway slain
a man, and this is a great shame, if he alone shall have the
heart to avenge the burning."
"That shall not be," says Asgrim, "but let us turn on them now."
Then there was a mighty cry all over the host, and then they
shouted their war-cries.
Flosi and his friends then turned against their foes, and both
sides egged on their men fast.
Kari Solmund's son turned now thither where Arni Kol's son and
Hallbjorn the Strong were in front, and as soon as ever Hallbjorn
saw Kari, he made a blow at him, and aimed at his leg, but Kari
leapt up into the air, and Hallbjorn missed him. Kari turned on
Arni Kol's son and cut at him, and smote him on the shoulder, and
cut asunder the shoulder blade and collar-bone, and the blow went
right down into his breast, and Arni fell down dead at once to
earth.
After that he hewed at Hallbjorn and caught him on the shield,
and the blow passed through the shield, and so down and cut off
his great toe. Holmstein hurled a spear at Kari, but he caught
it in the air, and sent it back, and it was a man's death in
Flosi's band.
Thorgeir Craggeir came up to where Hallbjorn the Strong was
in front, and Thorgeir made such a spear-thrust at him with his
left hand that Hallbjorn fell before it, and had hard work to get
on his feet again, and turned away from the fight there and then.
Then Thorgeir met Thorwalld Kettle Rumble's son, and hewed at him
at once with the axe, "the ogress of war," which Skarphedinn had
owned. Thorwalld threw his shield before him, and Thorgeir hewed
the shield and cleft it from top to bottom, but the upper horn of
the axe made its way into his breast, and passed into his trunk,
and Thorwalld fell and was dead at once.
Now it must be told how Asgrim Ellidagrim's son, and Thorhall his
son, Hjallti Skeggi's son, and Gizur the White, made an onslaught
where Flosi and the sons of Sigfus and the other burners were; --
then there was a very hard fight, and the end of it was that they
pressed on so hard, that Flosi and his men gave way before them.
Gudmund the Powerful, and Mord Valgard's son, and Thorgeir
Craggeir, made their onslaught where the Axefirthers and
Eastfirthers, and the men of Reykdale stood, and there too there
was a very hard fight.
Kari Solmund's son came up where Bjarni Broddhelgi's son had the
lead. Kari caught up a spear and thrust at him, and the blow
fell on his shield. Bjarni slipped the shield on one side of
him, else it had gone straight through him. Then he cut at Kari
and aimed at his leg, but Kari drew back his leg and turned short
round on his heel, and Bjarni missed him. Kari cut at once at
him, and then a man ran forward and threw his shield before
Bjarni. Kari cleft the shield in twain, and the point of the
sword caught his thigh, and ripped up the whole leg down to the
ankle. That man fell there and then, and was ever after a
cripple so long as he lived.
Then Kari clutched his spear with both hands, and turned on
Bjarni and thrust at him; he saw he had no other chance but to
throw himself down sidelong away from the blow, but as soon as
ever Bjarni found his feet, away he fell back out of the fight.
Thorgeir Craggeir and Gizur the White fell on there where
Holmstein the son of Bersi the Wise, and Thorkel Geiti's son were
leaders, and the end of the struggle was, that Holmstein and
Thorkel gave way, and then arose a mighty hooting after them from
the men of Gudmund the Powerful.
Thorwalld Tjorfi's son of Lightwater got a great wound, he was
shot in the forearm, and men thought that Halldor Gudmund the
Powerful's son had hurled the spear, but he bore that wound about
with him all his life long, and got no atonement for it.
Now there was a mighty throng. But though we hear tell of some
of the deeds that were done, still there are far many more of
which men have handed down no stories.
Flosi had told them that they should make for the stronghold in
the Great Rift if they were worsted, "For there," said he, "they
will only be able to attack us on one side." But the band which
Hall of the Side and his son Ljot led, had fallen away out of the
fight before the onslaught of that father and son, Asgrim and
Thorhall. They turned down east of Axewater, and Hall said,
"This is a sad state of things when the whole host of men at the
Thing fight, and I would, kinsman Ljot, that we begged us help
even though that be brought against us by some men, and that we
part them. Thou shalt wait for me at the foot of the bridge, and
I will go to the booths and beg for help."
"If I see," said Ljot, "that Flosi and his men need help from our
men, then I will at once run up and aid them."
"Thou wilt do in that as thou pleasest," says Hall, "but I pray
thee to wait for me here."
Now flight breaks out in Flosi's band, and they all fly west
across Axewater; but Asgrim and Gizur the White went after them
and all their host. Flosi and his men turned down between the
river and the Outwork booth. Snorri the Priest had drawn up his
men there in array, so thick that they could not pass that way,
and Snorri the Priest called out then to Flosi, "Why fare ye in
such haste, or who chase you?"
"Thou askest not this," answered Flosi, "because thou dost not
know it already; but whose fault is it that we cannot get to the
stronghold in the Great Rift?"
"It is not my fault," says Snorri, "but it is quite true that I
know whose fault it is, and I will tell thee if thou wilt; it is
the fault of Thorwalld Cropbeard and Kol."
They were both then dead, but they had been the worst men in all
Flosi's band.
Again Snorri said to his men, "Now do both, cut at them and
thrust at them, and drive them away hence, they will then hold
out but a short while here, if the others attack them from below;
but then ye shall not go after them, but let both sides shift for
themselves."
The son of Skapti Thorod's son was Thorstein Gapemouth, as was
written before, he was in the battle with Gudmund the Powerful,
his father-in-law, and as soon as Skapti knew that, he went to
the booth of Snorri the Priest, and meant to beg for help to part
them; but just before he had got as far as the door of Snorri's
booth, there the battle was hottest of all. Asgrim and his
friends, and his men were just coming up thither, and then
Thorhall said to his father Asgrim, "See there now is Skapti
Thorod's son, father."
"I see him kinsman," said Asgrim, and then he shot a spear at
Skapti, and struck him just below where the calf was fattest, and
so through both his legs. Skapti fell at the blow, and could not
get up again, and the only counsel they could take who were by,
was to drag Skapti flat on his face into the booth of a turf-
cutter.
Then Asgrim and his men came up so fast that Flosi and his men
gave way before them south along the river to the booths of the
men of Modruvale. There there was a man outside one booth whose
name was Solvi; he was boiling broth in a great kettle, and had
just then taken the meat out, and the broth was boiling as hotly
as it could.
Solvi cast his eyes on the Eastfirthers as they fled, and they
were then just over against him, and then he said, "Can all these
cowards who fly here be Eastfirthers, and yet Thorkel Geiti's
son, he ran by as fast as any one of them, and very great lies
have been told about him when men say that he is all heart, but
now no one ran faster than he."
Hallbjorn the Strong was near by then, and said, "Thou shalt not
have it to say that we are all cowards."
And with that he caught hold of him, and lifted him up aloft, and
thrust him head down into the broth-kettle. Solvi died at once;
but then a rush was made at Hallbjorn himself, and he had to turn
and fly.
Flosi threw a spear at Bruni Haflidi's son, and caught him at the
waist, and that was his bane; he was one of Gudmund the
Powerful's band.
Thorstein Hlenni's son took the spear out of the wound, and
hurled it back at Flosi, and hit him on the leg, and he got a
great wound and fell; he rose up again at once.
Then they passed on to the Waterfirthers' booth, and then Hall
and Ljot came from the east across the river, with all their
band; but just when they came to the lava, a spear was hurled out
of the band of Gudmund the Powerful, and it struck Ljot in the
middle, and he fell down dead at once; and it was never known
surely who had done that manslaughter.
Flosi and his men turned up round the Waterfirther's booth, and
then Thorgeir Craggeir said to Kari Solmund's son, "Look, yonder
now is Eyjolf Bolverk's son, if thou hast a mind to pay him off
for the ring."
"That I ween is not far from my mind," says Kari, and snatched a
spear from a man, and hurled it at Eyjolf, and it struck him in
the waist, and went through him, and Eyjolf then fell dead to
earth.
Then there was a little lull in the battle, and then Snorri the
Priest came up with his band, and Skapti was there in his
company, and they ran in between them, and so they could not get
at one another to fight.
Then Hall threw in his people with theirs, and was for parting
them there and then, and so a truce was set, and was to be kept
throughout the Thing, and then the bodies were laid out and borne
to the church, and the wounds of those men were bound up who were
hurt.
The day after men went to the Hill of Laws. Then Hall of the Side
stood up and asked for a hearing, and got it at once; and he
spoke thus, "Here there have been hard happenings in lawsuits
and loss of life at the Thing, and now I will show again that I
am little-hearted, for I will now ask Asgrim and the others who
take the lead in these suits, that they grant us an atonement on
even terms;" and so he goes on with many fair words.
Kari Solmund's son said, "Though all others take an atonement in
their quarrels, yet will I take no atonement in my quarrel; for
ye will wish to weigh these manslayings against the burning, and
we cannot bear that."
In the same way spoke Thorgeir Craggeir.
Then Skapti Thorod's son stood up and said, "Better had it been
for thee, Kari, not to have run away from thy father-in-law and
thy brothers-in-law, than now to sneak out of this atonement."
Then Kari sang these verses:
"Warrior wight that weapon wieldest
Spare thy speering why we fled,
Oft for less falls hail of battle,
Forth we fled to wreak revenge;
Who was he, fainthearted foeman,
Who, when tongues of steel sung high,
Stole beneath the booth for shelter,
While his beard blushed red for shame?
"Many fetters Skapti fettered
When the men, the Gods of fight,
From the fray fared all unwilling
Where the skald scarce held his shield;
Then the suttlers dragged the lawyer
Stout in scolding to their booth,
Laid him low amongst the riffraff,
How his heart then quaked for fear.
"Men who skim the main on sea stag
Well in this ye showed your sense
Making game about the Burning,
Mocking Helgi, Grim, and Njal;
Now the moor round rocky Swinestye (1),
As men run and shake their shields,
With another grunt shall rattle
When this Thing is past and gone."
Then there was great laughter. Snorri the Priest smiled and sang
this between his teeth, but so that many heard:
"Skill hath Skapti us to tell
Whether Asgrim's shaft flew well;
Holmstein hurried swift to flight,
Thorstein turned him soon to fight."
Now men burst out in great fits of laughter.
Then Hall of the Side said, "All men know what a grief I have
suffered in the loss of my son Ljot; many will think that he
would be valued dearest of all those men who have fallen here;
but I will do this for the sake of an atonement -- I will put no
price on my son, and yet will come forward and grant both pledges
and peace to those who are my adversaries. I beg thee, Snorri
the Priest, and other of the best men, to bring this about, that
there may be an atonement between us."
Now he sits him down, and a great hum in his favour followed, and
all praised his gentleness and goodwill.
Then Snorri the Priest stood up and made a long and clever
speech, and begged Asgrim and the others who took the lead in the
quarrel to look towards an atonement.
Then Asgrim said, "I made up my mind when Flosi made an inroad
on my house that I would never be atoned with him; but now Snorri
the Priest, I will take an atonement from him for thy word's sake
and other of our friends."
In the same way spoke Thorleif Crow and Thorgrim the Big, that
they were willing to be atoned, and they urged in every way their
brother Thorgeir Craggeir to take an atonement also; but he hung
back, and says he would never part from Kari.
Then Gizur the White said, "Now Flosi must see that he must make
his choice, whether he will be atoned on the understanding that
some will be out of the atonement."
Flosi says he will take that atonement; "And methinks it is so
much the better," he says, "that I have fewer good men and true
against me."
Then Gudmund the Powerful said, "I will offer to handsel peace
on my behalf for the slayings that have happened here at the
Thing, on the understanding that the suit for the burning is not
to fall to the ground."
In the same way spoke Gizur the White and Hjallti Skeggi's son,
Asgrim Ellidagrim's son and Mord Valgard's son.
In this way the atonement came about, and then hands were shaken
on it, and twelve men were to utter the award; and Snorri the
Priest was the chief man in the award, and others with him. Then
the manslaughters were set off the one against the other, and
those men who were over and above were paid for in fines. They
also made an award in the suit about the burning.
Njal was to be atoned for with a triple fine, and Bergthora with
two. The slaying of Skarphedinn was to be set off against that
of Hauskuld the Whiteness Priest. Both Grim and Helgi were to be
paid for with double fines; and one full man-fine should be paid
for each of those who had been burnt in the house.
No atonement was taken for the slaying of Thord Kari's son.
It was also in the award that Flosi and all the burners should go
abroad into banishment, and none of them was to sail the same
summer unless he chose; but if he did not sail abroad by the time
that three winters were spent, then he and all the burners were
to become thorough outlaws. And it was also said that their
outlawry might be proclaimed either at the Harvest-Thing or
Spring-Thing, whichever men chose; and Flosi was to stay abroad
three winters.
As for Gunnar Lambi's son, and Grani Gunnar's son, Glum Hilldir's
son, and Kol Thorstein's son, they were never to be allowed to
come back.
Then Flosi was asked if he would wish to have a price put upon
his wound, but he said he would not take bribes for his hurt.
Eyjolf Bolverk's son had no fine awarded for him, for his
unfairness and wrongfulness.
And now this settlement and atonement was handselled and was well
kept afterwards.
Asgrim and his friends gave Snorri the priest good gifts, and he
had great honour from these suits.
Skapti got a fine for his hurt.
Gizur the White, and Hjallti Skeggi's son, and Asgrim
Ellidagrim's son, asked Gudmund the Powerful to come and see them
at home. He accepted the bidding, and each of them gave him a
gold ring.
Now Gudmund rides home north and had praise from every man for
the part he had taken in these quarrels.
Thorgeir Craggeir asked Kari to go along with him, but yet first
of all they rode with Gudmund right up to the fells north. Kari
gave Gudmund a golden brooch, but Thorgeir gave him a silver
belt, and each was the greatest treasure. So they parted with
the utmost friendship, and Gudmund is out of this story.
Kari and Thorgeir rode south from the fell, and down to the
Rapes (1), and so to Thurso-water.
Flosi, and the burners along with him, rode east to Fleetlithe,
and he allowed the sons of Sigfus to settle their affairs at
home. Then Flosi heard that Thorgeir and Kari had ridden north
with Gudmund the Powerful, and so the burners thought that Kari
and his friend must mean to stay in the north country; and then
the sons of Sigfus asked leave to go east under Eyjafell to get
in their money, for they had money out on call at Headbrink.
Flosi gave them leave to do that, but still bade them be ware of
themselves, and be as short a time about it as they could.
Then Flosi rode up by Godaland, and so north of Eyjafell Jokul,
and did not draw bridle before he came home east to Swinefell.
Now it must be said that Hall of the Side had suffered his son to
fall without a fine, and did that for the sake of an atonement,
but then the whole host of men at the Thing agreed to pay a fine
for him, and the money so paid was not less than eight hundred in
silver, but that was four times the price of a man; but all the
others who had been with Flosi got no fines paid for their hurts,
and were very ill pleased at it.
The sons of Sigfus stayed at home two nights, but the third day
they rode east to Raufarfell, and were there the night. They
were fifteen together, and had not the least fear for themselves.
They rode thence late, and meant to reach Headbrink about even.
They baited their horses in Carlinedale, and then a great slumber
came over them.