Kjartan got men together, and they mustered sixty men altogether.
Kjartan did not tell his father the reason of his journey, and Olaf
asked but little about it. Kjartan took with him tents and stores, and
rode on his way until he came to Laugar. He bade his men get off their
horses, and said that some should look after the horses and some put
up the tents. At that time it was the custom that outhouses were
outside, and not so very far away from the dwelling-house, and so it
was at Laugar. Kjartan had all the doors of the house taken, and
forbade all the inmates to go outside, and for three nights he made
them do their errands within the house. After that Kjartan rode home
to Herdholt, and each of his followers rode to his own home. Olaf was
very ill-pleased with this raid, but Thorgerd said there was no
reason for blame, for the men of Laugar had deserved this, yea, and a
still greater shame. Then Hrefna said, "Did you have any talk with any
one at Laugar, Kjartan?" He answered, "There was but little chance of
that," and said he and Bolli had exchanged only a few words. Then
Hrefna smiled and said, "It was told me as truth that you and Gudrun
had some talk together, and I have likewise heard how she was arrayed,
that she had coifed herself with the head-dress, and it suited her
exceeding well." Kjartan answered, and coloured up, and it was easy to
see he was angry with her for making a mockery of this. "Nothing of
what you say, Hrefna, passed before my eyes, and there was no need for
Gudrun to coif herself with the head-dress to look statelier than all
other women." Thereat Hrefna dropped the talk. The men of Laugar bore
this exceedingly ill, and thought it by much a greater and worse
disgrace than if Kjartan had even killed a man or two of them. The
sons of Osvif were the wildest over this matter, but Bolli quieted
them rather. Gudrun was the fewest-spoken on the matter, yet men
gathered from her words that it was uncertain whether any one took it
as sorely to heart as she did. Full enmity now grows up between the
men of Laugar and the Herdholtings. As the winter wore on Hrefna gave
birth to a child, a boy, and he was named Asgier. [Sidenote: The
buying of the land at Tongue] Thorarin, the goodman of Tongue, let it
be known that he wished to sell the land of Tongue. The reason was
that he was drained of money, and that he thought ill-will was
swelling too much between the people of the countryside, he himself
being a friend of either side. Bolli thought he would like to buy the
land and settle down on it, for the men of Laugar had little land and
much cattle. Bolli and Gudrun rode to Tongue at the advice of Osvif;
they thought it a very handy chance to be able to secure this land so
near to themselves, and Osvif bade them not to let a small matter
stand in the way of a covenant. Then they (Bolli and Gudrun) bespoke
the purchase with Thorarin, and came to terms as to what the price
should be, and also as to the kind wherein it should be paid, and the
bargain was settled with Thorarin. But the buying was not done in the
presence of witnesses, for there were not so many men there at the
time as were lawfully necessary. Bolli and Gudrun rode home after
that. But when Kjartan Olafson hears of these tidings he rides off
with twelve men, and came to Tongue early one day. Thorarin greeted
him well, and asked him to stay there. [Sidenote: Kjartan's bargain]
Kjartan said he must ride back again in the morning, but would tarry
there for some time. Thorarin asked his errand, and Kjartan said, "My
errand here is to speak about a certain sale of land that you and
Bolli have agreed upon, for it is very much against my wishes if you
sell this land to Bolli and Gudrun." Thorarin said that to do
otherwise would be unbecoming to him, "For the price that Bolli has
offered for the land is liberal, and is to be paid up speedily."
Kjartan said, "You shall come in for no loss even if Bolli does not
buy your land; for I will buy it at the same price, and it will not be
of much avail to you to speak against what I have made up my mind to
have done. Indeed it will soon be found out that I shall want to have
the most to say within this countryside, being more ready, however, to
do the will of others than that of the men of Laugar." Thorarin
answered, "Mighty to me will be the master's word in this matter, but
it would be most to my mind that this bargain should be left alone as
I and Bolli have settled it." Kjartan said, "I do not call that a sale
of land which is not bound by witnesses. Now you do one of two things,
either sell me the lands on the same terms as you agreed upon with the
others, or live on your land yourself." Thorarin chooses to sell him
the land, and witnesses were forthwith taken to the sale, and after
the purchase Kjartan rode home. That same evening this was told at
Laugar. Then Gudrun said, "It seems to me, Bolli, that Kjartan has
given you two choices somewhat harder than those he gave
Thorarin--that you must either leave the countryside with little
honour, or show yourself at some meeting with him a good deal less
slow than you have been heretofore." Bolli did not answer, but went
forthwith away from this talk. [Sidenote: Kjartan rides to Saurby] All
was quiet now throughout what was left of Lent. The third day after
Easter Kjartan rode from home with one other man, on the beach, for a
follower. They came to Tongue in the day. Kjartan wished Thorarin to
ride with them to Saurby to gather in debts due to him, for Kjartan
had much money-at-call in these parts. But Thorarin had ridden to
another place. Kjartan stopped there awhile, and waited for him. That
same day Thorhalla the Chatterbox was come there. She asked Kjartan
where he was minded to go. He said he was going west to Saurby. She
asked, "Which road will you take?" Kjartan replied, "I am going by
Saelingsdale to the west, and by Swinedale from the west." She asked
how long he would be. Kjartan answered, "Most likely I shall be riding
from the west next Thursday (the fifth day of the week)." "Would you
do an errand for me?" said Thorhalla. "I have a kinsman west at
Whitedale and Saurby; he has promised me half a mark's worth of
homespun, and I would like you to claim it for me, and bring it with
you from the west." Kjartan promised to do this. After this Thorarin
came home, and betook himself to the journey with them. They rode
westward over Saelingsdale heath, and came to Hol in the evening to the
brothers and sister there. There Kjartan got the best of welcomes, for
between him and them there was the greatest friendship. [Sidenote:
Thorhalla returns to Laugar] Thorhalla the Chatterbox came home to
Laugar that evening. The sons of Osvif asked her who she had met
during the day. She said she had met Kjartan Olafson. They asked where
he was going. She answered, telling them all she knew about it, "And
never has he looked braver than now, and it is not wonderful at all
that such men should look upon everything as low beside themselves;"
and Thorhalla still went on, "and it was clear to me that Kjartan
liked to talk of nothing so well as of his land bargain with
Thorarin." Gudrun spoke, "Kjartan may well do things as boldly as it
pleases him, for it is proven that for whatever insult he may pay
others, there is none who dares even to shoot a shaft at him." Present
at this talk of Gudrun and Thorhalla were both Bolli and the sons of
Osvif. Ospak and his brothers said but little, but what there was,
rather stinging for Kjartan, as was always their way. Bolli behaved as
if he did not hear, as he always did when Kjartan was spoken ill of,
for his wont was either to hold his peace, or to gainsay them.
CHAP. XLVIII
The Men of Laugar and Gudrun plan an Ambush for Kjartan, A.D. 1003
Kjartan spent the fourth day after Easter at Hol, and there was the
greatest merriment and gaiety. [Sidenote: An's dream] The night after
An was very ill at ease in his sleep, so they waked him. They asked
him what he had dreamt. He answered, "A woman came to me most
evil-looking and pulled me forth unto the bedside. She had in one
hand a short sword, and in the other a trough; she drove the sword
into my breast and cut open all the belly, and took out all my inwards
and put brushwood in their place. After that she went outside."
Kjartan and the others laughed very much at this dream, and said he
should be called An "brushwood belly," and they caught hold of him and
said they wished to feel if he had the brushwood in his stomach. Then
Aud said, "There is no need to mock so much at this; and my counsel is
that Kjartan do one of two things: either tarry here longer, or, if he
will ride away, then let him ride with more followers hence than
hither he did." Kjartan said, "You may hold An 'brushwood belly' a man
very sage as he sits and talks to you all day, since you think that
whatever he dreams must be a very vision, but go I must, as I have
already made up my mind to, in spite of this dream." Kjartan got ready
to go on the fifth day in Easter week; and at the advice of Aud, so
did Thorkell Whelp and Knut his brother. They rode on the way with
Kjartan a band of twelve together. Kjartan came to Whitedale and
fetched the homespun for Thorhalla Chatterbox as he had said he would.
[Sidenote: Gudrun wakes her brothers] After that he rode south through
Swinedale. It is told how at Laugar in Saelingsdale Gudrun was early
afoot directly after sunrise. She went to where her brothers were
sleeping. She roused Ospak and he woke up at once, and then too the
other brothers. And when Ospak saw that there was his sister, he
asked her what she wanted that she was up so early. Gudrun said she
wanted to know what they would be doing that day. Ospak said he would
keep at rest, "for there is little work to do." Gudrun said, "You
would have the right sort of temper if you were the daughters of some
peasant, letting neither good nor bad be done by you. Why, after all
the disgrace and shame that Kjartan has done to you, you none the less
lie quietly sleeping, though he rides past this place with but one
other man. Such men indeed are richly endowed with the memory of
swine. I think it is past hoping that you will ever have courage
enough to go and seek out Kjartan in his home, if you dare not meet
him now that he rides with but one other man or two; but here you sit
at home and bear yourselves as if you were hopeful men; yea, in sooth
there are too many of you." Ospak said she did not mince matters and
it was hard to gainsay her, and he sprang up forthwith and dressed, as
did also each of the brothers one after the other. Then they got ready
to lay an ambush for Kjartan. Then Gudrun called on Bolli to bestir
him with them. [Sidenote: The ambush laid for Kjartan] Bolli said it
behoved him not for the sake of his kinship with Kjartan, set forth
how lovingly Olaf had brought him up. Gudrun answered, "Therein you
speak the truth, but you will not have the good luck always to do what
pleases all men, and if you cut yourself out of this journey, our
married life must be at an end." And through Gudrun's harping on the
matter Bolli's mind swelled at all the enmity and guilts that lay at
the door of Kjartan, and speedily he donned his weapons, and they grew
a band of nine together. There were the five sons of Osvif--Ospak,
Helgi, Vandrad, Torrad, and Thorolf. Bolli was the sixth and Gudlaug,
the son of Osvif's sister, the hopefullest of men, the seventh. There
were also Odd and Stein, sons of Thorhalla Chatterbox. They rode to
Swinedale and took up their stand beside the gill which is called
Goat-gill.[6] They bound up their horses and sat down. Bolli was
silent all day, and lay up on the top of the gill bank. [Sidenote:
Thorkell of Goat-peaks] Now when Kjartan and his followers were come
south past Narrowsound, where the dale begins to widen out, Kjartan
said that Thorkell and the others had better turn back. Thorkell said
they would ride to the end of the dale. Then when they came south past
the out-dairies called Northdairies Kjartan spake to the brothers and
bade them not to ride any farther. "Thorolf the thief," he said,
"shall not have that matter to laugh at that I dare not ride on my way
with few men." Thorkell Whelp said, "We will yield to you in not
following you any farther; but we should rue it indeed not to be near
if you should stand in need of men to-day." Then Kjartan said, "Never
will Bolli, my kinsman, join hands with plotters against my life. But
if the sons of Osvif lie in wait for me, there is no knowing which
side will live to tell the tale, even though I may have some odds to
deal with." Thereupon the brothers rode back to the west.
[Footnote 6: Gill=gorge, deep watercourse.]
CHAP. XLIX
The Death of Kjartan
Now Kjartan rode south through the dale, he and they three together,
himself, An the Black, and Thorarin. Thorkell was the name of a man
who lived at Goat-peaks in Swinedale, where now there is waste land.
He had been seeing after his horses that day, and a shepherd of his
with him. They saw the two parties, the men of Laugar in ambush and
Kjartan and his where they were riding down the dale three together.
Then the shepherd said they had better turn to meet Kjartan and his;
it would be, quoth he, a great good hap to them if they could stave
off so great a trouble as now both sides were steering into. Thorkell
said, "Hold your tongue at once. Do you think, fool as you are, you
will ever give life to a man to whom fate has ordained death? And,
truth to tell, I would spare neither of them from having now as evil
dealings together as they like. It seems to me a better plan for us to
get to a place where we stand in danger of nothing, and from where we
can have a good look at their meeting, so as to have some fun over
their play. For all men make a marvel thereof, how Kjartan is of all
men the best skilled at arms. I think he will want it now, for we two
know how overwhelming the odds are." And so it had to be as Thorkell
wished. Kjartan and his followers now rode on to Goat-gill. On the
other hand the sons of Osvif misdoubt them why Bolli should have
sought out a place for himself from where he might well be seen by men
riding from the west. So they now put their heads together, and, being
of one mind that Bolli was playing them false, they go for him up unto
the brink and took to wrestling and horse-playing with him, and took
him by the feet and dragged him down over the brink. [Sidenote: The
beginning of the fight] But Kjartan and his followers came up apace as
they were riding fast, and when they came to the south side of the
gill they saw the ambush and knew the men. Kjartan at once sprung off
his horse and turned upon the sons of Osvif. There stood near by a
great stone, against which Kjartan ordered they should wait the onset
(he and his). [Sidenote: The fight] Before they met Kjartan flung his
spear, and it struck through Thorolf's shield above the handle, so
that therewith the shield was pressed against him, the spear piercing
the shield and the arm above the elbow, where it sundered the main
muscle, Thorolf dropping the shield, and his arm being of no avail to
him through the day. Thereupon Kjartan drew his sword, but he held not
the "King's-gift." The sons of Thorhalla went at Thorarin, for that
was the task allotted to them. That outset was a hard one, for
Thorarin was mightily strong, and it was hard to tell which would
outlast the other. Osvif's sons and Gudlaug set on Kjartan, they being
five together, and Kjartan and An but two. An warded himself
valiantly, and would ever be going in front of Kjartan. Bolli stood
aloof with Footbiter. Kjartan smote hard, but his sword was of little
avail (and bent so), he often had to straighten it under his foot. In
this attack both the sons of Osvif and An were wounded, but Kjartan
had no wound as yet. Kjartan fought so swiftly and dauntlessly that
Osvif's sons recoiled and turned to where An was. At that moment An
fell, having fought for some time, with his inwards coming out. In
this attack Kjartan cut off one leg of Gudlaug above the knee, and
that hurt was enough to cause death. Then the four sons of Osvif made
an onset on Kjartan, but he warded himself so bravely that in no way
did he give them the chance of any advantage. Then spake Kjartan,
"Kinsman Bolli, why did you leave home if you meant quietly to stand
by? Now the choice lies before you, to help one side or the other, and
try now how Footbiter will do." Bolli made as if he did not hear. And
when Ospak saw that they would no how bear Kjartan over, he egged on
Bolli in every way, and said he surely would not wish that shame to
follow after him, to have promised them his aid in this fight and not
to grant it now. "Why, heavy enough in dealings with us was Kjartan
then, when by none so big a deed as this we had offended him; but if
Kjartan is now to get away from us, then for you, Bolli, as even for
us, the way to exceeding hardships will be equally short." [Sidenote:
Bolli kills Kjartan] Then Bolli drew Footbiter, and now turned upon
Kjartan. Then Kjartan said to Bolli, "Surely thou art minded now, my
kinsman, to do a dastard's deed; but oh, my kinsman, I am much more
fain to take my death from you than to cause the same to you myself."
Then Kjartan flung away his weapons and would defend himself no
longer; yet he was but slightly wounded, though very tired with
fighting. Bolli gave no answer to Kjartan's words, but all the same he
dealt him his death-wound. And straightway Bolli sat down under the
shoulders of him, and Kjartan breathed his last in the lap of Bolli.
Bolli rued at once his deed, and declared the manslaughter due to his
hand. Bolli sent the sons of Osvif into the countryside, but he stayed
behind together with Thorarin by the dead bodies. And when the sons of
Osvif came to Laugar they told the tidings. Gudrun gave out her
pleasure thereat, and then the arm of Thorolf was bound up; it healed
slowly, and was never after any use to him. The body of Kjartan was
brought home to Tongue, but Bolli rode home to Laugar. [Sidenote:
Gudrun's greeting] Gudrun went to meet him, and asked what time of day
it was. Bolli said it was near noontide. Then spake Gudrun, "Harm
spurs on to hard deeds (work); I have spun yarn for twelve ells of
homespun, and you have killed Kjartan." Bolli replied, "That unhappy
deed might well go late from my mind even if you did not remind me of
it." Gudrun said "Such things I do not count among mishaps. It seemed
to me you stood in higher station during the year Kjartan was in
Norway than now, when he trod you under foot when he came back to
Iceland. But I count that last which to me is dearest, that Hrefna
will not go laughing to her bed to-night." Then Bolli said and right
wroth he was, "I think it is quite uncertain that she will turn paler
at these tidings than you do; and I have my doubts as to whether you
would not have been less startled if I had been lying behind on the
field of battle, and Kjartan had told the tidings." Gudrun saw that
Bolli was wroth, and spake, "Do not upbraid me with such things, for I
am very grateful to you for your deed; for now I think I know that you
will not do anything against my mind." After that Osvif's sons went
and hid in an underground chamber, which had been made for them in
secret, but Thorhalla's sons were sent west to Holy-Fell to tell
Snorri Godi the Priest these tidings, and therewith the message that
they bade him send them speedily all availing strength against Olaf
and those men to whom it came to follow up the blood-suit after
Kjartan. [Sidenote: An comes to life] At Saelingsdale Tongue it
happened, the night after the day on which the fight befell, that An
sat up, he who they had all thought was dead. Those who waked the
bodies were very much afraid, and thought this a wondrous marvel. Then
An spake to them, "I beg you, in God's name, not to be afraid of me,
for I have had both my life and my wits all unto the hour when on me
fell the heaviness of a swoon. Then I dreamed of the same woman as
before, and methought she now took the brushwood out of my belly and
put my own inwards in instead, and the change seemed good to me." Then
the wounds that An had were bound up and he became a hale man, and was
ever afterwards called An Brushwood-belly. But now when Olaf Hoskuld's
son heard these tidings he took the slaying of Kjartan most sorely to
heart, though he bore it like a brave man. His sons wanted to set on
Bolli forthwith and kill him. Olaf said, "Far be it from me, for my
son is none the more atoned to me though Bolli be slain; moreover, I
loved Kjartan before all men, but as to Bolli, I could not bear any
harm befalling him. But I see a more befitting business for you to do.
Go ye and meet the sons of Thorhalla, who are now sent to Holy-Fell
with the errand of summoning up a band against us. I shall be well
pleased for you to put them to any penalty you like." [Sidenote: The
deaths of Stein and his brother] Then Olaf's sons swiftly turn to
journeying, and went on board a ferry-boat that Olaf owned, being
seven of them together, and rowed out down Hvamsfirth, pushing on
their journey at their lustiest. They had but little wind, but fair
what there was, and they rowed with the sail until they came under
Scoreisle, where they tarried for some while and asked about the
journeyings of men thereabouts. A little while after they saw a ship
coming from the west across the firth, and soon they saw who the men
were, for there were the sons of Thorhalla, and Halldor and his
followers boarded them straightway. They met with no resistance, for
the sons of Olaf leapt forthwith on board their ships and set upon
them. Stein and his brother were laid hands on and beheaded overboard.
The sons of Olaf now turn back, and their journey was deemed to have
sped most briskly.
CHAP. L
The End of Hrefna. The Peace Settled, A.D. 1003
Olaf went to meet Kjartan's body. He sent men south to Burg to tell
Thorstein Egilson these tidings, and also that he would have his help
for the blood-suit; and if any great men should band themselves
together against him with the sons of Osvif, he said he wanted to have
the whole matter in his own hands. The same message he sent north to
Willowdale, to Gudmund, his son-in-law, and to the sons of Asgeir;
with the further information that he had charged as guilty of the
slaying of Kjartan all the men who had taken part in the ambush,
except Ospak, son of Osvif, for he was already under outlawry because
of a woman who was called Aldis, the daughter of Holmganga-Ljot of
Ingjaldsand. Their son was Ulf, who later became a marshal to King
Harold Sigurdsson, and had for wife Jorunn, the daughter of Thorberg.
Their son was Jon, father of Erlend the Laggard, the father of
Archbishop Egstein. Olaf had proclaimed that the blood-suit should be
taken into court at Thorness Thing. He had Kjartan's body brought
home, and a tent was rigged over it, for there was as yet no church
built in the Dales. [Sidenote: Olaf protects Bolli] But when Olaf
heard that Thorstein had bestirred him swiftly and raised up a band of
great many men, and that the Willowdale men had done likewise, he had
men gathered together throughout all the Dales, and a great multitude
they were. The whole of this band Olaf sent to Laugar, with this
order: "It is my will that you guard Bolli if he stand in need
thereof, and do it no less faithfully than if you were following me;
for my mind misgives me that the men from beyond this countryside,
whom, coming soon, we shall be having on our hands, will deem that
they have somewhat of a loss to make up with Bolli. And when he had
put the matter in order in this manner, Thorstein, with his following,
and also the Willowdale men, came on, all wild with rage. Hall
Gudmund's son and Kalf Asgeirson egged them on most to go and force
Bolli to let search be made for the sons of Osvif till they should be
found, for they could be gone nowhere out of the countryside. But
because Olaf set himself so much against their making a raid on
Laugar, messages of peace were borne between the two parties, and
Bolli was most willing, and bade Olaf settle all terms on his behalf,
and Osvif said it was not in his power to speak against this, for no
help had come to him from Snorri the Priest. A peace meeting,
therefore, took place at Lea-Shaws, and the whole case was laid freely
in Olaf's hand. For the slaughter of Kjartan there were to come such
fines and penalties as Olaf liked. Then the peace meeting came to an
end. Bolli, by the counsel of Olaf, did not go to this meeting. The
award should be made known at Thorness Thing. Now the Mere-men and
Willowdale men rode to Herdholt. [Sidenote: The death of Hrefna]
Thorstein Kuggison begged for Asgeir, son of Kjartan, to foster, as a
comfort to Hrefna. Hrefna went north with her brothers, and was much
weighed down with grief, nevertheless she bore her sorrow with
dignity, and was easy of speech with every man. Hrefna took no other
husband after Kjartan. She lived but a little while after coming to
the north; and the tale goes that she died of a broken heart.
CHAP. LI
Osvif's Sons are Banished
[Sidenote: The revenge for Kjartan] Kjartan's body lay in state for a
week in Herdholt. Thorstein Egilson had had a church built at Burg. He
took the body of Kjartan home with him, and Kjartan was buried at
Burg. The church was newly consecrated, and as yet hung in white. Now
time wore on towards the Thorness Thing, and the award was given
against Osvif's sons, who were all banished the country. Money was
given to pay the cost of their going into exile, but they were
forbidden to come back to Iceland so long as any of Olaf's sons, or
Asgeir, Kjartan's son, should be alive. For Gudlaug, the son of
Osvif's sister, no weregild (atonement) should be paid, because of his
having set out against, and laid ambush for, Kjartan, neither should
Thorolf have any compensation for the wounds he had got. Olaf would
not let Bolli be prosecuted, and bade him ransom himself with a money
fine. This Halldor and Stein, and all the sons of Olaf, liked mightily
ill, and said it would go hard with Bolli if he was allowed to stay in
the same countryside as themselves. Olaf saw that would work well
enough as long as he was on his legs. [Sidenote: Audun's drowning]
There was a ship in Bjornhaven which belonged to Audun Cable-hound. He
was at the Thing, and said, "As matters stand, the guilt of these men
will be no less in Norway, so long as any of Kjartan's friends are
alive." Then Osvif said, "You, Cable-hound, will be no soothsayer in
this matter, for my sons will be highly accounted of among men of high
degree, whilst you, Cable-hound, will pass, this summer, into the
power of trolls." Audun Cable-hound went out a voyage that summer and
the ship was wrecked amongst the Faroe Isles and every man's child on
board perished, and Osvif's prophecy was thought to have come
thoroughly home. The sons of Osvif went abroad that summer, and none
ever came back again. In such a manner the blood-suit came to an end
that Olaf was held to have shown himself all the greater a man,
because where it was due, in the case of the sons of Osvif, to wit, he
drove matters home to the very bone, but spared Bolli for the sake of
their kinship. Olaf thanked men well for the help they had afforded
him. By Olaf's counsel Bolli bought the land at Tongue. It is told
that Olaf lived three winters after Kjartan was slain. After he was
dead his sons shared the inheritance he left behind. Halldor took over
the manor of Herdholt. Thorgerd, their mother, lived with Halldor; she
was most hatefully-minded towards Bolli, and thought the reward he
paid for his fostering a bitter one.
CHAP. LII
The Killing of Thorkell of Goat's Peak