Part #3

        There was a man named Orn, he wandered from corner to corner through the land, and was a wizard; he waylaid Thorir in Vinverja-dale, as he was making his journey south over the Keel, and laid a wager with Thorir as to which of their horses might be the fleetest, for he had a right good horse himself. Each of them staked a hundred in silver. Afterwards they rode south across the Keel, until they came to that racing course (59) which was afterwards called Doveneb's Course. So great was the difference in the speed of horses that Thorir having completed the course returned back again and met Orn half-way on the course. Orn took the loss of his wager so ill that he would not live, and he went off up under that mountain which is now called Arnarfell, and there he made an end of himself, and Fluga (Fly) stood left there, for she was very weary. But when Thorir was returning from the Thing he found there by Fly, a stallion; grey with a black mane; (60) from him she had conceived, and from her and the stallion was sprung Eidfaxi, which was taken abroad, and gave death to seven men on the shore of the lake of Mjors in one day, and itself came to an end here. Fly was lost in a bog at Flymoor.
        Kollsvein the Strong was the name of a man who settled land between Thvera (61) (= Thwart river) and Gorge-river and dwelt at Kollveinstead over against Thwart river, he kept up sacrifices at Hofstead.

The Royal connexions in Sweden and Russia of Gorm. His settlements in Iceland. Ondott's settlements.

Chapter IX. There was a man named Gunnolf who settled land between the Thwart river (Thvera) and Glodafeyki's river, and dwelt at Hvamm.
        There was a renowned lord in Sweden called Gorm, he had for wife Thora, the daughter of King Eirek at Upsala; their son was named Thorgils, he had to wife Elin, the daughter of King Burislaf of Novgorod in the east (i.e. from Russia), and of Ingigerd the sister of Dagstygg the King of the giants. Their sons were Hergrim and Herfinn, who had to wife Halla, the daughter of Hedin, and of Arndis, the daughter of Hedin. The daughter of Herfinn and Halla was named Groa, she was the wife of Hroar, and their son was Slettu-Bjorn, who settled land first between the Grjot river and the Deild-river, before Hjalti and Kolbein came out; he dwelt at Slettubjornstead. His children were Örnolf, who had for wife Thorljot, the daughter of Hjalti, the son of Skalp, and Arnbjorn, who had for wife Thorlaug the daughter of Thord of Hofdi, and Arnodd, who had to wife Thorny, the daughter of Sigmund, the son of Thorkel, whom Glum slew. A daughter of Slettu-Bjorn was named Arnfrid, whom Spak-Bodvar, the son of Ondott had to wife. Ondott came out to the mouth of Kolbein's river and bought from Slettu-Bjorn land down from Halsgrof on the eastern side and out to the mouth of Kolbein's river, and on the west side down from that brook which is met with out away from Nautabui (= cattle booths), and up unto Gorge-river and he abode at Vidvik. Sigmund of Vestfold had to wife Ingibjorg the daughter of Raudsruggu = the rocking cradle, in Naumadale, the sister of Thorstein Svarfad; their son was Kolbein who went to Iceland and settled land between Grjot river and Deildriver, Kolbeinsdale and Hjaltdale.

Remarkable Arvals. A Drapa. Verses on the appearance of the sons of Hjalti at Thorskafjard Thing. The discovery of Vinland the Good, i.e. America. Thord and his nineteen children.

Chapter X. Hjalti the son of Thord Skalp came to Iceland and settled Hjaltdale by the advice of Kolbein, and dwelt at Hof. His sons were Thorvald and Thord, both men of great renown. The Arvals (62) of their father were the most notable held in Iceland; there were there twelve hundred invited guests, (63) and all the men of high degree were seen off with gifts. At those Arvals Odd the Broadfirther brought forth that drapa (laudatory ode) which he had composed concerning Hjalti. Before this Glum the son of Geiri had summoned Odd to the Codfirth Thing; then the sons of Hjalti went from the north by ship to Steingrimsfirth, and went from the north over the Heath by that way which is now called Hjalt-dalers' hollow; when they came to the Thing they were so excellently apparrelled that men thought that the Aesir or Gods were come. To this effect the following stanzas were recited: ----
        
                Hark ye, men deft of slaughter!
                No stem o' the steel (64) misdoubted
                That e'en the gods were going
                There were the sons of Hjalti,
                The hardy-hearted, strode forth
                Into the Thing assembled
                In Codfirth, all bedecked with
                The holt-fish (65) gleaming spangles.

        From the sons of Hjalti is descended a great and noble family. There was a famous man named Thord, he was the son of Bjorn byrðusmjör = Keg-butter the son of Hroald Rig, the son of Bjorn Ironside, the son of Ragnar lodbrok = hairy breeches. Thord went to Iceland, and settled Hofdistrand in Skagasfirth between Unadales river and Hrolleifdales river and dwelt at Hofdi. Thord married Thorgerd the daughter of Thorir hima and Fridgerd, the daughter of Kjarval a King of Ireland. They had nineteen children. Bjorn was a son of theirs, he married Thurid the daughter of Ref from Bard and their children were Arnorr Kerlingarnef = old woman's nose, and Thordis the mother of Orm, the father of Thordis, the mother of Botolf, the father of Thordis, the mother of Helga, the mother of Gudny, the mother of the Sturlusons.
        Thorgeir was the name of another son of Thord he married Rjupa, the daughter of Arnhald, the son of Sæmund; their son was Halldor at Hof. Snorri was a third son, he married Thorhild rjupa, (66) the daughter of Thord the Yeller. Their son was Thord horsehead, the father of Karlsefni who discovered Vinland (67) the good, the father of Snorri the father of Steinun, the mother of Thorstein Wrongdoer, the father of Gudrun the mother of Halla, the mother of Flosi, the father of Valgerd, the mother of Knight Erlend the Strong. Thorvald Holbarki (= without a roof to his mouth) was the fourth son, he came one autumn to Thorvardstead to Smidkel and tarried there awhile; thence he went up to the cave of Surt and recited there a drapa which he had made on the giant in the cave. Afterwards he married the daughter of Smidkel, and their daughter was Jorun the mother of Thorbrand in Skarfness. Bard was the fifth son of Thord, he married Thorarna, the daughter of Thorodd the Helmet, their son was Dadi the Skald. Söxolf was the sixth son of Thord, the seventh Thorgrim, the eighth Hroar, the ninth Knorr, the tenth Thormod Skull, the eleventh Stein. The daughter of Thord was Thorlaug, who married Arnbjorn, the son of Sléttu-bjorn, their daughter was Gudlaug, whom Thorleik the son of Hoskuld had to wife,their son was Bolli. Herdis was another daughter of Thord, and her Atli the Strong had for wife; Thorgrima Skeidarkinn was the third, the fourth Arnbjorg, the fifth Arnleif, the sixth Asgerd, the seventh Thurid, the eighth Fridgerd, in Hvamm.
        The son of Arnor, the son of Bjorn, the son of Thord, was Eldjarn, the father of Hall, the father of Ragnhild, the mother of Rafn, the father of Hallbera, the mother of Valdis, the mother of Snorri, the father of Hallbera, whom Markus the son of Thord at Melar had for wife. Hrolleif the Mickle settled Hrolleifsdale, as has been written before; Thord drove him from the north as an outlaw, on account of the slaughter of Odd, the son of Uni, thence he went into Vatnsdale.

Fridleif the Swede, Floki, and other settlers. Bard from the Hebrides, and Bruni the White settle Narrowdales. Rotation in the ownership of land.

Chapter XI. Fridleif was the name of a man, a Gautlander (68) by his father's side, his mother was named Bryngerd and was a Fleming by nation. Fridleif settled all Slettahlid and Fridleifsdale between Fridleifsdale's river and Staff river, and dwelt at Holt, his son was Thjodar, the father of Ari and Bryngerd, the mother of Tungu Stein. Floki, the son of Vilgerd, the daughter of Horda-Kari, went to Iceland and settled Flokadale, between the Flokadal's river and Reek-Knoll; he dwelt at Mor. Floki had for wife Gro, the sister of Thord from Hofdi, their son was Oddleif Staff, who dwelt at Staff-Knoll and had a quarrel with the sons of Hjalti; the daughter of Floki was Thjodgerd, the mother of Kodran, the father of Thjodgerd, the mother of Kodran, the father of Kar in Vatnsdale. There was a man, a Swede by kindred, named Thord Knapp (= Knob) the son of Bjorn at Haug; (69) there was another man named Auger-Helgi; they went in the same ship to Iceland and came to Haganess.
        Thord settled land up from Stifla to the Tongue river and dwelt at Knappstead; he married Æsa the daughter of Ljotolf godi; their son was Hafr, who had for wife Thurid, the daughter of Thorkel from Goddale; their son was Thorarin, the father of Ofeig. Auger-Helgi settled land to the east up from Haganess to Flokadale's river below Bard, and up to Tongue river and dwelt at Grindill; he had to wife Gro the Keen-eyed; their children were Thorhrolf and Arnor, who fought with Fridleif at Staffs Knoll, and Thorgerd, whom Geirmund the son of Sæmund had for wife, and Ulfhlid, whom Arnor the son of Skefil in Gaunguskard had in marriage; their son Thorgeir Swaggerer, who slew Sacrifice Mar at Moberg. Thorunn Blue-cheek was yet another daughter of Auger-Helgi.
        Bard, from the Hebrides, settled land up from Stifla to Narrowdale river; his son was Hall the Narrowdaler, the father of Thurid, whom Arnorr Carline-neb had for wife. Bruni the White was the name of a renowned man, the son of Harek, an Earl of the Upplandings (in Norway); he went to Iceland at his own desire and settled land between Narrowdale river and Ulf'sdales; he dwelt at Brunastead; he married Arnora the daughter of Thorgeirr Madcap, the son of Ljotolf the godi; their sons were Ketill, and Ulfhedin, and Thord, whence are the Bardmen descended.
        Ulf the Viking, and Olaf Beck (70) or Stream went in the same ship to Iceland. Ulf settled Ulfsdales and abode there. Olaf Beck was the son of Karl from Birchisle in Halogaland, he slew Thorri the Black, and was outlawed on account of that. Olaf settled all the dales to the west and a part of Olaf's Firth to the meeting (till mots) (71) with the lands of Thormod, and dwelt at Kviabekk, Foldbeck; his sons were Steinod, the father of Bjorn, and Grimolf, and Arnodd, the father of Vilborg, the mother of Karl the Red.
        There was a man named Thormod the Strong, he slew Gyrd, the grandfather by the mother's side of Skjalg in Jadar, and was for that exiled and went to Iceland; he brought his ship to Siglufirth and sailed up to Thormodseyri, whence he named the bay Siglu (= mast)-firth; he settled all Siglufirth between Ulfsdales and Hvanndales, and dwelt at Sigluness; he quarrelled with Olaf Beck about the Hvanndales and killed sixteen men before they came to the agreement that they should have it on alternate (72) summers or summer about.
        Thormod was the son of Harald the Viking, and he had for wife Arngerd, the sister of Skidi from Skididale; their sons were Arngeirr the Keen, and Narfi the father of Thrand, the father of Copse-isle (73) Narfii and Alrek, who fought at Slettuhlid with Knor, the son of Thord. Gunolf the Old, the son of Thorbjorn Thjoti = the rusher, from Sogn; he slew Vegeir, the father of Vebjorn, the Sygna-kappa (74) = the Sogna champion, and went afterwards to Iceland; he settled Olafsfjord on the eastern side up to Reek river, and out to Vomula, and dwelt at Gunnolf's river; he had for wife Gro, the daughter of Thorvard from Urdir, their sons were Steinolf, Thorir, and Thorgrim.

Notes:
59. Skeid = 1st a race, 2nd a race course. [Back]
60. The Icelandic word is "föxottan." [Back]
61. Thver is used of a stream which is tributary or affluent to another stream. [Back]
62. The word in the Icelandic is 'erfi' or Arvals, and in name and in other surroundings these Icelandic Arvals seem to furnish a remarkable parallel to the Arval feasts that prevailed in early times in Cumberland, Westmorland, and North Lancashire. [Back]
63. The Icelandic word is boðs menn or "bidden men" from bjóða to invite. The north English dialect word for inviting to a funeral is "bid," and the district to be invited often conterminous with a Parish or Township is called "a bidding." The word is found in Old English and the invitatory Prayer in the Liturgy is called "the bidding prayer." [Back]
64. Stem o' the steel = warrior, man. [Back]
65. Holt-fish = serpent, whose lair is gold. [Back]
66. Rjupa = ptarmigan. [Back]
67. Vinland or Wineland is the name given to the chief settlement of the early Norsemen in North America, represented by part of Massachusetts and Rhode Island. The first Norseman who saw it was Bjarne Herjulfson, who was driven there by a storm in 986, when he was voyaging from Iceland to Greenland. He did not land however. Leif, son of Eric the Red, visited the land about the year 1000, and a German in his company having found grapes growing wild as in his native land, called the land Vinland or Wineland. The most famous, however, of the Norse explorers, was Karlsefni, as mentioned above. In 1007 he sailed from Greenland to Vinland with a crew of 160 men. He remained there for three years and then returned. After this no further attempts were made by them at colonization. Rafn (Antiquitates Americanæ) and Finn Magnusen show that Columbus got his first hints of a new world from these early Icelandic expeditions. Finn Magnusen establishes the fact that Columbus did visit Iceland in 1477, fifteen years before he undertook his expedition across the Atlantic. [Back]
68. From Gautland in South Sweden. [Back]
69. Haug is "the How," so commonly found in northern place names. [Back]
70. Bekkr stream is in place names found frequently in the North of England. The dialect term for a small stream is almost invariably "beck," hence we have it applied as place name to Caldbeck, Troutbeck, Kirkcambeck, also Beckermet = the meeting of the becks. [Back]
71. Til mots = to the meeting. This mot, a meeting, is noteworthy, for we have it in such names as Moot Hall = meeting hall. Beckermet as above, and the mountain Muta near Bassenthwaite. [Back]
72. The Icelandic phrase is "skyldi sitt sumar hvarr hafa" = each shouldhave it for his own summer. In some parts of Lakeland the system of such alternate ownership was practised until very lately. [Back]
73. Hriseyjar-Narfi = Narfa of the Copsewood Island. [Back]
74. Sygna-kappr or Sogni-kappr appears to mean that in the Province of Sogni he was a sort of A.I. or "Cock of the walk." To kap in the Icelandic means to beat or conquer. To cap, also, in the Cumberland dialect means to beat in athletic or other contests. Anderson says of Kit Kraffit: ---- "He wan sebben belts afoor he was twenty, An in Scaleby needa teuk off the fit-bo; Yet he kent o the Beyble, Algebera, Josephus, And capt the skeulmaister, exciseman an'o." [Back]