Three Northern Love Stories and Other Tales
“I think not that I have done any such thing,” said Ketilrid; “but indeed I would that thou wentest not!”
“It shall not be,” said Viglund; “for I have more mind to try the matter out with Hakon, than to let him cast his arms about thee, while I am alive to see it.” And he sang:---
“I would abide the bale-fire,
Or bear the steel-tree's smiting,
As other men may bear it;
But heavy maidens' redes are:
Sorely to me it seemeth,
Gold spoilers' shoulder-branches,
The sweet that was my maiden
Other than mine entwining.”
The battle of the Foss-folk and Thorgrim's sons
Then the sons of Thorgrim gat them up on to the hay, which was in the garth, so that the others were not ware of them, till they had torn up great store of the frozen turf.
But when they had so done, they saw Thorgrim's sons, and fell on them, and there befell the fiercest of fights: till the Foss-folk saw that they made way slowly against Thorgrim's sons whiles they were up on the hay: then cried Jokul----
“Thou wert well counselled, Viglund, not to slink away; and we shall hold for certain that thou art no good man and true, but if thou come down from the hay there, and try the matter to its end.”
So, because of Jokul's egging on, Viglund leapt down from the hay with Trusty his brother, and they met fiercely; and all the men of Hakon and those brethren fell, so that of the Foss-dwellers these alone stood on their feet, Jokul, Einar, and Hakon, with two men more who were hurt and unmeet for fight.
Thus said Jokul: “Now let us set to work in manly and generous wise; let Trusty and Einar fight together, and Viglund and Hakon, and I will sit beside the while.”
Now Trusty was both sore and weary; and they fought, Trusty and Einar, till either fell.
Then fell to fight Viglund and Hakon; and Viglund was exceeding weary, but unwounded.
The fight was both hard and long, because Hakon was strong and stout-hearted, but Viglund strong of hand, and skilled in arms and eager of heart: but the end of their dealings was, that Hakon fell dead to earth, while Viglund was sore hurt.
Then up sprung Jokul, fresh, and without a hurt, and turned against Viglund, and they fell to fight: and a long space they fought, and hard enow, till none could see which would win the day; when Viglund sees that it is a hard matter to prevail against Jokul to the end because of his wounds and weariness; and so being as good with one hand as the other, he cast aloft axe and shield, and caught his shield with his right hand and his axe with his left, in such wise that Jokul noted it not, and then smote the right arm off him at the crook of the elbow. Then Jokul took to flight, nor might Viglund follow after him; but he caught up a spear from the ground, wheras many lay beside him, and cast it after Jokul; and that spear smote him, and went in at the shoulders and out at the breast of him; and Jokul fell down dead.
But Viglund was grown faint with the flow of blood, and he fell swooning and lay there as one dead.
Then the two Foss-men who were left, crawled away to their horses and rode home to Foss, and got into the hall; and there sat the goodman, with his wife on one side and his daughter on the other: then they tell out the tidings: that Hakon is fallen and the brethren, and seven other men besides, and the sons of Thorgrim withal.
When Ketilrid heard that, she fell fainting, and when she came to herself, her mother laid heavy words on her. “Now,” quoth she, “is thy light-o'-love well seen, and the desire thou hadst toward Viglund:---good it is that ye must needs be parted now.”
Then said the goodman: “Why must thou needs turn this blame on her? She loved her brethren so well, that she may well be astonied at hearing of their fall.”
“Maybe that it is so,” said Thorbiorg; “yet surely I think not. But now the business in hand is to gather a company of men and go slay Thorgrim the Proud, as swiftly as may be.”
“Yea, is that our due business?” said Holmkel. “Meseems he at least is sackless of the slaying of those brethren; and as for his sons, they can lose no more than their lives; and soothly, it was but their due to defend themselves.”
Ketil's sons come out to Iceland
Holmkel let set his sons in mound, and those men who had fallen with them, and that place is now called Mound-knowes.
These things were now told of far and wide, and all thought it great tidings, deeming it wellnigh sooth that Thorgrim's sons were slain.
Thorgrim and Holmkel met, nor did this matter depart their friendship, and they made peace on such terms that the case should not be brought to law or judgment. But when Thorbiorg wist thereof, she sent privily to her father Einar, and bade him take up the feud after her sons; and follow up the sons of Thorgrim for full penalty, if yet they lived: and albeit Einar were old, yet he threw himself into this case, and beguilted the sons of Thorgrim to the full at the Thorsness-thing.
And all this came home to the ears of the countryside.
Now Hakon's shipmates sailed away in the summer when they were ready, and made Norway, and coming to Ketil told him throughout how all things had gone: wherefore it seemed to him that the revenge on Thorgrim and his sons was like to be tardy. Gunnlaug and Sigurd, the sons of Ketil, were come from a viking cruise in those days, and were grown most famous men: Gunnlaug the Masterful had sworn this oath, never to deny to any man a berth in his ship, if so be his life lay theron; and Sigurd the Sage had sworn never to reward good with evil.
So Ketil told his sons of the fall of Hakon, and bade them fare to Iceland and revenge his shame, and slay Thorgrim the Proud.
They came into this tardily, yet for the prayer's sake of their father they went; but as soon as they came into the main sea there drave a storm down on them, and a mighty wind, and they weltered about right up to winter-nights. They came on Snowfellness amidst a great fog, and struck on Onverdaness, and were wrecked; so all men got a-land alive, but of the goods was little saved.
Now Thorgrim heard hereof, and who the men were, and rode to meet them, and they took that joyfully, and abode the winter through.
And now Sigurd began to think much of Helga, though he said but little to her.
And they knew nought of Thorgrim's sons.
But on a time got Gunnlaug a-talking with Sigurd his brother, and said, “Were it not meet that we should seek revenge on Thorgrim, for certes we may have a right good chance against him?”
Sigurd answered: “It had been better unspoken; for thus meseems should I reward good with evil, if I were to slay the man who has taken me from shipwreck; and in every wise doth better and better to me: nay, rather would I defend him than do him a mischief if it should come to such a pass.”
So they made an end of talking, and Gunnlaug never got on this talk again with Sigurd. So the winter wears, and those brethren let array their ship, being desirous to be ready to depart against summer-tide.
And some men would be saying that things went sweetly between Helga and Sigurd; howbeit, it was scarce known openly to all folk.
The parting of Viglund and Ketilrid
Helgi had wedded in Norway, but his wife was dead before the tale gets so far as this: he had a daughter called Ragnhild, the fairest of women. So Helgi was weary of Norway, and went to Iceland, and came thither late in the land-settling time, and bought land in Gautwick of that Gaut who had settled the land there; and there he dwelt till old age.
Now tells the tale of more folk: Steinolf, to wit, who dwelt in Hraundale, who had a son hight Thorleif, a big man and a proper. This Thorleif wooed Ketilrid, but she would nought of him. Then Thorleif made many words about it, to the end that he should get her, howsoever she might gainsay it; and Thorbiorg was utterly of his way of thinking.
But now, when Thorgrim's sons were clean healed of their hurts, they asked their father what he would counsel them to do. He said, “I deem it good rede for you to take berth in the ship of the brethren Gunnlaug and Sigurd, and pray a passage of them over the Iceland sea, saying that your lives lie thereon, as the sooth is, keeping your names hidden meanwhile. Then shall Sigurd keep to his oath, and grant you passage: for this Sigurd is a good man and true, and ye will get but good at his hands: and soothly ye will need it, for over there ye will have to answer for me.”
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