At Yule Grettir came to a bondi named Einar, a man of wealth who had a
wife and a marriageable daughter named Gyrid. She was a beautiful maiden
and was considered an excellent match. Einar invited Grettir to stay
over Yule, and he accepted.
It was no uncommon thing throughout Norway that robbers and other
ruffians came down from the forest and challenged men to fight for their
women, or carried off their property with violence if there was not
sufficient force in the house to protect them. One day at Yule-tide
there came a whole party of these miscreants to Einar's house. Their
leader was a great berserk named Snaekoll. He challenged Einar to hand
over his daughter to him or else to defend her, if he felt himself man
enough to do so. Now the bondi was no longer young, and no fighter. He
felt that he was in a great difficulty, and asked Grettir privately what
help he would give him, seeing that he was held to be so famous a man.
Grettir advised him to consent only to what was not dishonourable. The
berserk was sitting on his horse wearing his helmet, the chin-piece of
which was not fastened. He held before him a shield bound with iron and
looked terribly threatening. He said to the bondi:
"You had better choose quickly: either one thing or the other. What does
that big fellow standing beside you say? Would he not like to play with
me himself?"
"One of us is as good as the other," said Grettir, "neither of us is
very active."
"All the more afraid will you be to fight with me if I get angry."
"That will be seen when it is tried," said Grettir.
The berserk thought they were trying to get off by talking. He began
to howl and to bite the rim of his shield. He held the shield up to his
mouth and scowled over its upper edge like a madman. Grettir stepped
quickly across the ground, and when he got even with the berserk's horse
he kicked the shield with his foot from below with such force that it
struck his mouth, breaking the upper jaw, and the lower jaw fell down on
to his chest. With the same movement he seized the viking's helmet with
his left hand and dragged him from his horse, while with his right hand
he raised his axe and cut off the berserk's head. Snaekoll's followers
when they saw what had happened fled, every man of them. Grettir did
not care to pursue them for he saw that there was no heart in them. The
bondi thanked him for what he had done, as did many other men, for the
quickness and boldness of his deed had impressed them much. Grettir
stayed there for Yule and was well taken care of till he left, when the
bondi dismissed him handsomely. Then Grettir went East to Tunsberg to
visit his brother Thorsteinn, who received him joyfully and asked him
about his adventures. Grettir told him how he had killed the berserk,
and composed a verse:
"The warrior's shield by my foot propelled
in conflict came with Snaekoll's mouth.
His nether jaw hung down on his chest,
wide gaped his mouth from the iron ring."
"You would be very handy at many things," said Thorsteinn, "if
misfortune did not follow you."
"Men will tell of deeds that are done," said Grettir.