The Sagas of the Icelanders (75 page)

11
They dashed down towards the farm, and reached it quickly just after rising time. People were not yet up. They rammed a log against the door and ran in. Hrafnkel was lying in his bed. They took him from there along with all those men on the farm who were capable of bearing weapons. The women and children were herded into another building.

There was a storehouse standing in the meadow, and running between the storehouse and the wall of the farmhouse was a beam that was used for drying clothes. They led Hrafnkel and his men over to this. He made many pleas for himself and his men, but when he saw that no notice was paid to this, he begged for the lives of his men, ‘since they have done you no wrong, while killing me will bring you no dishonour. I will make no protest against that. But I will protest against being humiliated. There is little honour for you in that.’

Thorkel said, ‘We’ve heard that you’ve been rather deaf to the pleading of your enemies, and it is right that you should suffer the same treatment today.’

They took Hrafnkel and his men, and bound their hands behind their backs. After that, they broke open the storehouse and took a rope down from some hooks. They then took their knives, pierced holes through the men’s heels behind the tendons and dragged the rope through these holes. They threw the rope over the beam, and strung the eight of them up together.

Then Thorgeir said, ‘So this is your present situation, and it seems quite fitting, Hrafnkel. You might have thought it unlikely that you would ever receive such shame as this from any man. What do you want to do, Thorkel? Sit here with Hrafnkel and keep a watch on them, or go with Sam to a safe place an arrow-shot away from the farm, and then carry out the confiscation court on some rocky knoll where there is neither a ploughed field nor a meadow?’

This was supposed to be performed when the sun was directly in the south.
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Thorkel said, ‘I will stay here with Hrafnkel. That seems less work.’

Thorgeir and Sam then went and carried out the confiscation court. After that, they walked home. They took Hrafnkel and his men down and laid them in the hayfield. The blood had run into their eyes.

Then Thorgeir told Sam that he could do what he liked with Hrafnkel, ‘because I don’t think you’ll have any problem with him now. It’s clear that Hrafnkel never expected to fall into your hands.’

Sam answered, ‘I will give Hrafnkel two choices: the first is that he be led away along with those men that I choose, and be put to death. But since he has so many dependants to look after, I want to grant him the possibility of taking care of them. If he wishes to have his life, he must leave Adalbol with his close relations and only those goods that I allot for him. I will take over his present place of abode and his position of authority. Neither you nor your heirs will ever lay claim to it again. You must come no closer than the eastern side of Fljotsdal heath. We can shake hands on this if you wish to accept.’

Hrafnkel said, ‘Many would prefer a quick death to such humiliation, but I will be like so many others and choose life if it is an alternative. I do this mainly because of my sons. They will have little chance of ever amounting to anything if I die.’

Hrafnkel was then released and he granted Sam self-judgement. Sam apportioned to Hrafnkel those goods that he thought fit. That day, Hrafnkel moved all of his people and the goods he had been allowed away from Adalbol.

Thorkel said to Sam, ‘I don’t know why you are doing this. You yourself will most regret having given Hrafnkel his life.’

Sam said that that was how it would have to be.

Hrafnkel moved his farm east over Fljotsdal heath, and across Fljotsdal to the east of Lagarfljot river. Near the end of the lake, there was a small farm which was called Lokhilla. Hrafnkel bought this farm on credit, because he had no more than what he needed for provisions. People talked much about how his arrogance had been deflated, and many remembered the old proverb, ‘brief is the life of excess’.

It was a wide area of forested countryside, but the buildings were very poor and that is why he bought it at a low price. Hrafnkel was not so worried about the cost, though. He felled the forestland because it was so wide, and built a grand farm which has since been called Hrafnkelsstadir (Hrafnkel’s place). It has always been regarded as a good farm since that time. Hrafnkel lived there in great hardship for the first seasons, but he gained a great yield from fishermen. Hrafnkel worked very hard himself when the farm was being constructed. He reared calves and goat kids over the winter during that first season. He did well that first winter. Almost everything that he was responsible for survived. It might be said that by the spring there were two heads on each animal.

That summer a great run of trout entered Lagarfljot. Such things greatly improved living conditions for the people in the district, and this continued every summer.

12
Sam set up his farm at Adalbol after Hrafnkel had left, and held a splendid feast. He invited all of those who had been Hrafnkel’s thingmen, and offered to be their leader in place of Hrafnkel. People accepted this, but there were mixed feelings about it.

The chieftains, the Thjostarssons, advised him to be kind and generous to his thingmen, and a useful supporter for anybody who needed him: ‘Then they won’t be real men if they don’t follow you whenever you have need of any of them. We advise you to do this so that you will have success in everything, because you seem to us to be a brave man. Now take care, and keep your eyes open because you must always watch out for the wicked.’

During the day, the Thjostarssons sent for Freyfaxi and his herd, saying they wanted to see these wonderful animals that so many tales had been told about, ‘because you won’t find any better animals of this kind than these horses’.

The horses were led home, and the brothers looked them over.

Thorgeir said, ‘These mares look ideal for farming people. I recommend that they be put to work for people for as long as possible, until the winter or age start troubling them. But this stallion doesn’t seem any better to me than any other horses. If anything, he is worse since he’s been the cause of so much trouble. I don’t want him to be the cause of any more slayings than those which have already taken place. It would be most fitting that he who owns him should take him.’

They now led the stallion down through the meadows, and along beside the river. Below the farm, there are some high cliffs and a waterfall. There is a deep pool in the river there. They led the stallion out on to the cliff. The men from the West Fjords pulled a leather sack over the head of the horse, and took some stout poles and set them against his flanks. They then tied a stone around his neck, leaned hard against the poles and pushed him forward and off the cliff, so that he was destroyed. This place has since been called Freyfaxahamar (Freyfaxi’s cliff).

Standing above them were the temple buildings that had belonged to Hrafnkel. Thorgeir wanted to burn them. He had them stripped, and after that set fire to the temple building, burning everything up. They then went back to the farm. The guests prepared to leave and Sam gave fine gifts to everyone.

The brothers were ready to leave. Sam chose some excellent treasures for them, and they promised each other complete friendship. They parted as warm friends, and rode along the usual route west to the fjords. They came home to Thorskafjord with respect.

Sam sent Thorbjorn down to Leikskalar where he was supposed to live. Sam’s wife came to live with him at Adalbol, and they stayed there for the time being. Both sides now lived peacefully.

13
East in Fljotsdal, Hrafnkel heard about the activities of the Thjostarssons, how they had first destroyed Freyfaxi, and then burned the temple building and the images of the gods in Hrafnkelsdal. He then said that he considered it vanity to believe in gods and said that from that time onwards he would never believe in them. He kept his word, and after this never made any more sacrifices.

Hrafnkel stayed in Hrafnkelsstadir, and raked in riches. He soon won great respect in the district. Everybody was glad to stand or sit, just as he wished.

At that time, the traffic of ships from Norway to Iceland was at its height. Most of the land in the district was settled during Hrafnkel’s day. Nobody
was allowed the freedom to stay there unless Hrafnkel granted them permission. Everyone had to promise him their support. He promised them his help and support in return, and took control of all the land east of Lagarfljot. This assembly district soon became much greater and more populous than the one he had had before, stretching out to Selfljot, all the way up Skridudal, and all the way along Lagarfljot. A great change had suddenly taken place in that the man was much more popular than before. He had the same temperament as regards his helpfulness and generosity, but was now a more gentle man than before, more restrained in all ways.

Sam and Hrafnkel often met at public gatherings, but they never mentioned their dealings with each other.

14
Sam lived on in this position of respect for six years. He was popular among his thingmen because he was peaceful and restrained and good at providing solutions. He remembered what the brothers had advised him.

It is told that one summer a ship came in from the sea into Reydarfjord, and the skipper was Eyvind Bjarnason. He had been abroad for six years. Eyvind had developed greatly in character and had become the bravest of men. He was soon given the news of what had happened, but he showed little outward reaction to it because he was a man who kept himself to himself.

When Sam heard about this, he rode to the ship. The brothers had a very joyful meeting, and Sam invited Eyvind to come west to him. Eyvind gladly accepted this offer. He asked Sam to ride home first and send some horses to fetch his goods. He drew his ship up on land and set it in order. Sam now did as he had been told. He went home, had horses collected and sent his men to meet Eyvind.

When Eyvind had packed his goods, he prepared for his journey to Hrafnkelsdal. He loaded the pack-horses and went up Reydarfjord. There were five of them. The sixth was Eyvind’s servant boy. He was Icelandic by birth, and closely related to Sam and Eyvind. Eyvind had taken this boy out of poverty when he was living at home. He had taken the boy abroad with him, and treated him as he did himself. This act of Eyvind’s was much talked about, and it was generally rumoured that he had done other such things.

They rode up on to Thorsdal heath, driving sixteen pack-horses ahead of them. Two of Sam’s servants were there, and four traders. They were all dressed in colourful clothes, and rode carrying beautiful shields. They
rode across Skridudal and over the ridge into Fljotsdal, to a place called Bolungarvellir, and then down to the Gilsareyri flats. They run along the east side of the lake between Hallormsstadir and Hrafnkelsstadir. They rode up beside Lagarfljot below the meadow at Hrafnkelsstadir, and then round the end of the lake and over the Jokulsa river at a place named Skalavad. It was midway between rising time and breakfast time.

A woman was by the lake washing her linen. She saw some people riding. The servant woman bundled together the linen, ran home, threw it down beside a wood pile and ran in. Hrafnkel had not got up, and some friends of his were still lying in the farmhouse, but the farm labourers had all gone off to work. It was hay time.

The woman started speaking as she came in: ‘It’s true what they said in the old days that “the older you get, the wetter you become”. The respect a man receives early in life isn’t worth much if he later loses it through dishonour and hasn’t got the self-confidence to go off and rescue his rights. And it’s a particularly big surprise in those men who have been made out to be courageous. Now those people who grew up with their fathers, their lives are different. You think nothing of them compared with yourselves, but then they grow up and they go from country to country and are thought of as being terribly important wherever they travel. And then they come back home and they’re thought of as being greater than chieftains. Eyvind Bjarnason, who just rode over the river at Skalavad with a shield so beautiful that it shone, is so accomplished that he’d make a worthy object for revenge.’

The servant woman went on relentlessly.

Hrafnkel got up and answered her: ‘It may be that much of what you say is true, even if you mean no good by it. You deserve to suffer more hardship for it. Go quickly south to Vidivellir and fetch Sighvat and Snorri, Hallstein’s sons. Ask them to come immediately with all the men that are still with them and are capable of bearing weapons.’

He sent another servant woman to Hrolfsstadir to fetch Thord and Halli, Hrolf’s sons, and those people there who were capable of bearing weapons. These were both worthy and able men. Hrafnkel also sent for his servants. When they arrived, there was a total of eighteen men. They armed themselves boldly, and rode over the river where the others had gone.

Eyvind and the others had reached the heath when Hrafnkel and his men were crossing the valley. Eyvind rode west until he reached the middle of the heath. That place is called Bersagotur (Bersi’s tracks). There is an open bog there, and it is like riding through mud, which sometimes reaches up to the horse’s knees or the middle of its legs, sometimes even its belly, but under that it is as hard as rock, so no one should expect that it will get any deeper. There is a big lava field to the west. They rode west over the rocky ground.

When they came on to the lava, the lad looked back and spoke to Eyvind: ‘There are some men riding after us,’ he said, ‘no less than eighteen or twenty of them. There is a big man in black clothes riding on horseback, and it looks to me like Hrafnkel, although it is a long time since I have seen him.’

Eyvind answered, ‘What has that got to do with us? I know of no cause to be frightened of Hrafnkel out riding. I have done him no harm. He must have some reason to meet his friends in the valleys to the west.’

The lad answered, ‘It strikes me that he wants to meet you.’

‘I don’t know of anything that has come up between him and my brother Sam since they came to terms,’ said Eyvind.

The lad responded, ‘I’d like you to ride ahead, west to the valley. You’ll be safe then. I know Hrafnkel’s temperament. He’ll do us no harm if he doesn’t catch you. Everything is taken care of if you are. Then there will be no tethered prey for them, and whatever happens to us, all will be well.’

Eyvind said that he would not ride ahead, ‘because I don’t know who these people are. Many people would think it ridiculous if I ran away without having any proof.’

They now rode west out of the lava field. Ahead of them was another bog called Uxamyri, which is very grassy. It has many wet patches so it is almost impassable for those who do not know it. Both bogs take equally long to cross, but this one is worse because it is wetter, and people often have to unload horses. That was why old Hallfred had made the track farther up, even though it was longer, because he found it difficult crossing here with these two bogs. Eyvind now rode west into the bog with his men. They got badly bogged down, and were much delayed. The others, who were riding unhindered, were travelling much faster, and they now rode into the bog too. When Eyvind and the others reached the western side, they recognized that it was Hrafnkel who was in pursuit, along with both of his sons. They also recognized many other men.

They begged Eyvind to ride ahead: ‘All the obstacles are now behind us, and you can ride west, down from the heath, quickly. As long as the bog is between us, you can still reach Adalbol. You’ll be safe there.’

Eyvind answered, ‘I will not ride away from men that I have done no wrong to.’

They now rode west out of the bog, and up on to the ridge. West of the ridge, there is a good, grassy valley, and as you come out of that valley to the west, there is another ridge before you come down into Hrafnkelsdal. They now rode up on to the eastern ridge. There are some peaks on this ridge, and on the outer edge of one of these, there is a knoll with lyme grass on top. It is much eroded, and has steep sides. There are good pastures there, and a bog. Eyvind rode off the track, and south into the gullies running to the east of the knoll. There he dismounted, and asked his men to let the horses graze.

‘We’ll soon discover what our lot will be; whether these men will turn to meet us or whether they have some other business west of the heath.’

Hrafnkel and his men were now very close behind. Eyvind hobbled his horse. After that they went up on to the knoll, and carried up some rocks from the sides. Hrafnkel turned off the track, south towards the knoll. He did not say a word to Eyvind, but went straight on to the attack. Eyvind defended himself well and bravely.

Eyvind’s servant boy did not think he was strong enough to fight, so he took his horse and rode west over the ridge to Adalbol, and told Sam about the game that was afoot. Sam reacted immediately and sent men off to the next farms. That made a total of twenty men altogether. This party was well equipped. Sam rode east on to the heath to the place where the fight had taken place.

By that time, the exchange was over and done with. Hrafnkel was riding east over the heath, away from the site of the conflict. Eyvind was lying dead along with all his men. The first thing Sam did was search for signs of life in his brother. It had been a thorough job. They had all lost their lives. Twelve of Hrafnkel’s men had also fallen, but six were riding away.

Sam did not stay there long, and told his men to ride after them immediately:: ‘Their horses are exhausted, but all of ours are rested. It will be a close thing whether we catch them up or not before they come down off the heath.’

By that time, Hrafnkel had come east over Uxamyri.

Both groups rode on, and when they got to the eastern side of the bog, Sam’s men entered the lava field. By that time, Hrafnkel had reached the eastern side of the rocky ground, so the lava was now between them. While Sam was crossing the rocky ground, Hrafnkel got far ahead. Sam and his men rode on together until they reached the edge of the heath. Sam then saw that Hrafnkel had got far down the slopes, and realized that he would reach his own district ahead of them.

He told his men that they would not ride any farther, ‘because it will now be easy for Hrafnkel to gather reinforcements, so that he will soon have us in his hands’.

Having said this, Sam turned back. He came to where Eyvind lay, started work, and built a mound over him and his fellows who had fallen. These places are called Eyvindartorfa (Eyvind’s knoll) and Eyvindarfjoll (Eyvind’s peaks) and Eyvindardal (Eyvind’s valley).

Sam had the horses collected, loaded up the pack-horses and drove them home to Adalbol. When he came home, he sent men throughout Hrafnkelsdal in the evening, saying that all of his thingmen should come to him before breakfast, because he intended to go east over the heath: ‘My trip will turn out as it may.’

That night, when Sam went to bed, a great number of men had already arrived.