Part #1

        Orlyg was with Helgi the first winter, and in spring he settled land by the advice of Helgi, between Mogil's river and Osvif's Brook, and dwelt at Esjuborg. He built a church there as he had vowed. Orlyg had many children. His son was Valthjof, father of Valbrand, the father of Torfi; another was Geirmund, the father of Halldora, the mother of Thorleif, from whom and his kinsmen the Esjubergings are descended. Orlyg and his kinsman believed in Columba. The daughter of Orlyg the Old was Velaug, whom Gunnlaug Ormstunga the son of Hromund in Thverarhlid (24) had for his wife. Their daughter was Thurid dylla, mother of Illug the black, at Gilsbank.

Svartkel, a settler from Caithness in Scotland.

Chapter XIII. There was a man named Svartkel, from Caithness: he settled land inward from Mydal's river, between that and Elifsdale-river, and dwelt first at Kidfell and afterwards at Eyri. His son was Thorkell, father of Glum, who thus prayed before the cross: "Ever good to old men; ever good to young men!" He was the father of Thorarin, the father of Glum at 'Vatnlausa' = waterless. The sister of Svartkel was named Arnleif, the wedded wife of Thorolf viligisl, the father of Kleppjarn the Old from Flokadale, their daughter was named Hallgerd, who was the wife of Bergthorr, the son of Koll.
        Valthjof, son of Orlyg the Old from Esjauberg, settled all Kjos and dwelt at Medalfell; from him are the Valthjoflings descended. His daughter was Signy, the mother of Gnup, the father of Birning, the father of Gnup, the father of Eirik, the Bishop of the Greenlanders.

Settlement at Hvamm.

Chapter XIV. Hvamm Thorir settled land between Lax river and Foss river, and dwelt in Hvamm.
        He had a contention with Ref the Old concerning a cow which was called Brynja, and from her the Dale has its name, as she grazed out with 40 cattle (nauta = Scottish nwote) which were all bred from her. Ref and Thorir fought in Thorisholar, there Thorir fell and eight of his men.
        Thorstein, the son of Solmund, the son of Thorolf butter, settled land between Botn's river and Foss river, the whole of Brynjudale. He married Thorbjorg Katla, the daughter of Helgi Skarf, the son of Geirleif, who settled Bardastrand. Their son was Ref the Old, from whom the Bryndalers are descended. Now have been told those men who settled the landtake of Ingolf westward from him.
        There was a man named Avang, an Irishman by race, he first settled in 'Botn' = Bottom. The wood was at that time so abundant there that he built from it a seagoing ship, and put in her cargo at the place which is now called Hladhamar. (25) His son was Thorleif, the father of Thurid, the wedded wife of Thormod, who was the son of Thjoster at Alftanes, and of his wife Idunn, the daughter of Molda-Gnup.
        The son of Thormod was Bork, the father of Thord, the father of Audun, in Brautarholt. Kolgrim the old, son of Hrolf hersir (26) settled land out from Botn's river to Kalman's river, and dwelt at Ferstikla. He married Gunnvor, the daughter of Hrodgeir, the Sage.
        Their children were Thorhalli, the father of Kolgrim, the father of Stein, the father of Kvist, from whom the Kvistlings are descended. The daughter of Kolgrim the Old was Bergthora, whom Ref in Brynjudale married.

Early Christian Settlers.

Chapter XV. Two brothers settled the whole of Akranes between Kalman's river and Char river; the one was named Thormod, he had the land to the south of Reymir, and dwelt at Holm; he was the father of Bersi and Geirlaug, the mother of Tung-Odd. Ketil had Akranes to the west and to the north of Akrafell to the Char river. His son was Jorund the Christian, who dwelt in Gardar or the Garths, (27) which place was then named Jorundholt. Jorund was the father of Kepp, the father of Eimar, the father of Narfi and Harvar, the father of Thorgeir. There was a man named Asolf, he was the kinsman of Jorund, in Gardar or the Garths. He came out into Osar, in the east country; (28) he was a good christian, and refused to have any intercourse with heathen men, and would not accept meat from them. He made for himself a scale (29) under Eyjafell, which is now called Asolf's Scale, the easternmost.
        Asolf did not hold converse with any other men, but when people pryed in to see what provisions he had, they saw in his scale a great store of fishes.

Chapter XVI. And when men went to that brook (30) which flowed near to his dwelling, they discovered it to be full of fish, so that men thought that no such marvel had ever been seen before; but when the men of the neighbourhood got aware of this, they drove him away, and would not allow him to enjoy this blessing. Asolf moved his dwelling to Midscale (31) and abode there; then the fish vanished from the brook (at the eastern scale) when the people wanted to catch them, but when they came to Asolf then was the stream which flowed past his house full of fish. Then he was driven forth from thence and went to the scale which was farthest to the west, and all things again happened in the same manner. (32) And when he set out from thence to find out his kinsman Jorund, Jorund bade Asolf to abide with him, and Asolf said he had no mind to dwell with anyone else. Then Jorund caused a house to be made for him at Holm the innermost, and had his means of sustenance carried thither to him, and he continued there as long as he lived, and there he was buried. A church now stands where his tomb was, and he is deemed a most holy man.

Bekan and other early Settlers.

Chapter XVII. There was a man called Bekan, who settled in the landtake of Ketil, from Berrydale's river to Char river, and dwelt at Bekan Stead. Finn the rich, the son of Haldor, the son of Hogni, went from Stafanger to Iceland, he married Thorvor, the daughter of Thorbjarn from Mossfell, the son of Hradi, he settled to the south of Salmon river all unto Kalman river, and dwelt at Midfell. His son was Thorgeir, father of Jostein, the father of Thorun, the mother of Gudrun, the mother of Sæmund, the father of Brand the Bishop.
        Skeggi in Skogar was the son of Thorun, and he was the father of Spyrmir and Bolli in Skogar. Hallkel, who settled Hvilarsida (= side of the white river), dwelt first at Akraness at Hallkellsted, before the sons of Bersi drove them forth from thence. But when he went back for his cattle which had been going abroad there grazing unshepherded, he was slain, and was there howed = buried. Haven-Ormr settled land about Melahverfi out to Char river and Salmon river, and inward to Andakil's river, and dwelt at Hofn. His son was Thorgeir Cutcheek, father of Thorun, the mother of Thorun, the mother of Jostein, the father of Sigurd, the father of Bjornhedin. Thorgeir Cutcheek was of the body guard of King Hakon, the fosterson of Adalstein; he brought from Fitjar a wound in his cheek and great renown.
        Two brothers settled in the landtake of Finn and Orm.
        Hrodgeir the Sage in Saurby, and Oddgeir at Leira. (33)
        Finn and Orm bought them out as they thought the land there was too narrow for them. Thereupon Hrodgeir and his brother took land in Floi, (34) the Rape (35) of the Hraungerdings, and Hrodgeir dwelt at Hraungerdi, (36) and Oddgeir in Oddgeirsholar; he married the daughter of Ketil giofu.

Kveldulf's last voyage. His last words and death. The chest containing his dead body cast overboard. His companions find it cast ashore.

Chapter XVIII. There was a man named Ulf, the son of Brund-Bjalfi and Hallbera, the daughter of Ulf the Dauntless, from Hrafnista. Ulf was married to Salbjorg, the daughter of Berdlu-Kari; he was called Kveldulf (37) (= a wolf of the evening). Thorolf and Skallagrim were their sons. King Harald the Fairhaired caused Thorolf to be killed north in Alost at Sandness, through the slander of the son of Hildirid. King Harald would make no atonement for the murder. (38) Then Kveldulf and Grim arrayed a merchant ship and were minded to go to Iceland, because they had got news that Ingolf their friend was there. While they were lying sea-bound in Solund-isles they seized there the round (39) ship which King Harald had taken from Thorolf, when his men had just come back from England, and they slew there Hallvard the Hardy-farer and Sigtrygg the Swift-farer, who had brought that deed about (i.e. the seizure of Thorolf's ship). They also slew the sons of Guttorm, (40) son of Sigurd Hart, the first cousins of the King, and all their ship's crew, except two men whom they left to take the tidings to the King. Then they fitted up both the ships for a voyage to Iceland. They manned each vessel with thirty men, and Kveldulf steered the newly captured ship. Grim the Halogalander, (41) the son of Thorir, the son of Gunnlaug, the son of Hrolf, the son of Ketil Keelfarer was the second in command to Kveldulf in the ship which he steered. The two vessels kept each other in sight while at sea, but when they were far on the ocean Kveldulf fell ill, and commanded that if he should die they should make a chest (kist) for his body and bid them say to Grim his son that he should take up a dwelling in Iceland, the shortest way from the spot where his chest should come a-land, if such should be fated to it. After that Kveldulf died, and his chest was shot overboard. Then Grim (42) held to the south, round the land, they having learned that Ingolf abode south in the country. They sailed to the west by Reykjanes and steered their course into the Firth, and then the ships separated so that neither knew aught of the other. Grim the Halogalander and his company sailed up through the whole Firth until they had passed all the rocks, and there they cast anchor. When the flood tide set in, they hove up into the mouth of the river and brought up their ship as far as it would float; that river is now called Gufa; (43) there they landed their belongings. Exploring the country, they had gone but a very short distance before they discovered the chest of Kveldulf cast ashore in a certain creek. They bore it to a ness which was there, and raised over it a heap of stones.

Notes:
24. Thverarhlid is literally "cross river"; thver being applied to a tributary or cross river, as distinguished from the main river into which it flows as an effluent. [Back]
25. Cargo Crag. [Back]
26. Hersir is a chief or lord, the political name of the Norse chiefs of the earliest age, especially before the time of Harald Fairhair and the settlement of Iceland. [Back]
27. Literally the "enclosures" or intakes. The word 'Garth' as place name is in this acceptation often found in Lakeland. Gard, the original Icelandic word here used, is often found in north England place names, and field names as Gards, etc. [Back]
28. Osar is literally "the river's mouth" as taking in all the land that bounded the estuary. [Back]
29. Skali, the Icelandic word, is a hut or shed put up for temporary use. This is the earliest Norse sense and it is still so used in Norway. [Back]
30. The Icelandic word is Laekr = a brook or rivulet, and is in the Landnama very frequently compounded to form place names. [Back]
31. Compare Cumberland Place Names --- Scales, Sea Scale, Scale Hill, Nether Scales. [Back]
32. That is the fish were found in the same miraculous abundance in the stream that flowed past his scale or dwelling. [Back]
33. Leira = Clarty Beck. [Back]
34. Floi = a mossy moor or expanse of mossy waste --- occurs with the same meaning as Flowe in Cumberland, e.g., Wedholme Flowe, Bowness Flowe, Solway Flowe. Compare Kelpies Flowe in Scott's "Bride of Lammermoor." [Back]
35. Hreppr or Rape. After the introduction of Christianity to Iceland it was all divided into Hreppr or Poor Law districts, mostly, though not always coinciding with the Sokn or parish. [Back]
36. Gerdi as here used is a "place girded round," "a fenced field," "an enclosure." Hraun in volcanic Iceland means a lava field when cold. Hence in this meaning it is often applied to Icelandic place names, and in this Book of the Settlement the reader will find the following place names: Hraun, Hraundale, Hraun Firth, Hraun Holt or Wood, Hraun Haven. [Back]
37. Kveldulf. This name or Kveldulf betokens that he was a berserk, otherwise bearsark or bearcoat, i.e., a wild warrior or champion of the heathen age. In battle the berserkers were subject to fits of frenzy called berserkgangr, when they howled like wild beasts, foamed at the mouth, and gnawed the iron rim of their shields. During those fits they were, according to popular belief, proof against steel and fire, and made great havoc in the ranks of the enemy. When the fever left them they were weak and tame. In the Icelandic poem, Hornklofi, there is a passage which speaks of the berserker as howling and bellowing and gnawing the iron of his shield. [Back]
38. For a full account of this murder or massacre see Egil's Saga. It was really what is termed a "burning in" one of the most deadly and fatal recorded in Norse annals. It commenced a deadly feud which lasted for three generations between the families. The Egil's Saga is entirely occupied with the details of that feud. [Back]
39. The word translated round ship in the Icelandic is Knörr = a merchant ship, as distinguished from the langskip = the large ancient ship of war. [Back]
40. Guttorm was brother to Ragnhild, mother of Harald Fairhair, consequently his sons were first cousins to the King. [Back]
41. In Icelandic Haleski, i.e. from the land of the northern lights. [Back]
42. When Kveldulf died then Grim the Halogalander took command and steered the ship. This Grim must be carefully distinguished from Grim otherwise Skallagrim the son of Kveldulf, who commanded and steered the other ship. [Back]
43. Gufa = the steam or vapour river, so called from the vapour of the water from hot springs. [Back]