CHAPTER LXV. THE KINDRED OF SNORRI THE

PRIEST J THE DEATH OF HIM.

SNORRI the Priest dwelt at Tongue for twenty winters, and at first had a power there somewhat begrudged, while those brawlers were alive, Thorstein Kuggison to wit, and Thorgils the son of Halla, besides other of the greater men who bore him ill-will. Withal he cometh into many stories, and of him the tale also telleth in the story of the Laxdale men, as is well known to many ; whereas he was the greatest friend of Gudrun, the daughter of Osvif, and of her sons. He also hath to do with the story of the Heathslaughters, and most of all men, next indeed to Gudmund the Rich, lent aid to Bardi after the manslay ings on the Heath.

But as he grew older, ill-will against him began to wane, chiefly by reason of those who bore him envy growing fewer. His friendships were greatly bettered by his knitting alliances with the greatest chiefs in Broadfirth and wide about elsewhere.

He married his daughter Sigrid to Brand the Bounteous, the son of Vermund the Slender ; Kolli, the son of Thormod, the son of Thorlak, the brother of Steinthor of Ere, had her to wife thereafter ; and they, Kolli and Sigrid, had house in Bearhaven.

His daughter Unn he married to Slay ing- Bardi ;

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Sigurd, the son of Thorir Hound of Birch-isle in Halogaland, had her to wife afterwards, and their daughter was Ranveig, whom Jon, the son of Ami, the son of Ami, the son of Arnmod, had to wife; their son was Vidkunn of Birch-isle, whilome one of the foremost among the barons of Norway.

His daughter Thordis, Snorri married to Bolli, son of Bolli, and from them is sprung the race of the Gilsbeckings.

His daughter Hallbera, Snorri married to Thord, the son of Sturla Thiodrekson, whose daughter was Thurid, the wife of Haflidi Marson, and from them a mighty kindred has sprung.

Thora his daughter, Snorri married to KeruBersi, the son of Haldor, the son of Olaf of Herdholt ; Thorgrim the Burner afterwards had her to wife, and from them a great and a noble kin has sprung.

The other daughters of Snorri were married after his death. Thurid the Wise, the daughter of Snorri, Gunnlaug, the son of Steinthor of Ere, had for wife ; but Gudrun, the daughter of Snorri the Priest, was wedded to Kalf of Sunhome. Thorgeir of Asgarths-knolls married Haldora, Snorri's daughter. Alof, Snorri's daughter, Jorund Thorfinnson had to wife ; he was brother to Gudlaug of Streamfirth.

Haldor, the son of Snorri the Priest, was the noblest of his sons ; he kept house in Herdholt in Laxdale. From him are come the Sturlungs and the Waterfirth folk.

The second noblest son of Snorri the Priest was

The Ere- Dwellers. 185

Thorod, who abode at Spaewife's-fell in Skagastrand.

Mani, the son of Snorri, dwelt at Sheepfell ; his son was Liot, who was called Mana-Liot and was accounted of as the greatest among the grandsons of Snorri the Priest.

Thorstein, the son of Snorri, dwelt at Bathbrent, and from him are sprung the Asbirnings in Skagafiord, and a great stock withal.

Thord Kausi, Snorri's son, dwelt in Dufgusdale.

Eyolf, the son of Snorri, dwelt at Lambstead on the Mires.

Thorleif, the son of Snorri the Priest, dwelt on Midfell-strand ; from him are sprung the men of Ballara.

Snorri, the son of Snorri the Priest, dwelt in Tongue after his father.

Klepp was hight a son of Snorri whose abidingplace men wot nought of, nor know men any tales to tell of him.

Snorri died in Sselings-dale-Tongue one winter after the fall of King Olaf the Holy. He was buried at the church he let rear at Tongue ; but at the time the church was moved, his bones were taken up and brought down to the place whereas the church now is ; and a witness thereat was Gudny, Bodvar's daughter, the mother of those sons of Sturla : Snorri, Thord, and Sighvat, to wit ; and she said that they were bones of a man of middle height, and not right big. At that same time were also taken out of earth the bones of Bork the Thick, the father's brother of Snorri the Priest ; and she said that they were mighty big. Then, too,

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were dug out the bones of the carline Thordis, the daughter of Thorbiorn Sur, the mother of Snorri the Priest ; and Gudny said that they were small bones of a woman, and as black as if they had been singed.

All these bones were buried again in earth where the church is now. AND HEREWITH ENDETH THE STORY OF THE THORSNESSINGS, THE ERE-DWELLERS AND THE SWANFIRTHERS.

APPENDIX.

APPENDIX A.

THE CHILDREN OF SNORRI THE PRIEST.

From Cod. A. M. 445b, 4to. Printed in Eyrbyggjasaga, ed. G. Vigfusson, Leipzig, 1864, pp. 125-26.

SNORRI the Priest had nineteen children freeborn who got over the days of childhood. Thord Kausi was the eldest, the second was Thorod, the third Thorstein, the fourth Gudlaug the monk.

These were sons of Asdis, the daughter of Slay ing- Stir.

The fifth child of Snorri was Sigrid, the sixth Unn ; they were daughters of Thurid, the daughter of Illugi the Red.

The seventh child was Klepp, the eighth Haldora, the ninth Thordis, the tenth Gudrun, the eleventh Haldor, the twelfth Mani, the thirteenth Eyolf, the fourteenth Thora, the fifteenth Hallbera, the sixteenth Thurid, the seventeenth Thorleif, the eighteenth Alof, the nineteenth Snorri, who was born after the death of his father.

These were the children of Halfrid, the daughter of Einar.

Snorri the Priest had three children born of bondwomen : a second Thord Kausi, Jorund, and Thorhild.

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Snorri the Priest was fourteen winters old when he went abroad, where he tarried one winter. But the next winter after his coming back he spent at Holyfell with Bork the Thick, his father's brother, and with Thordis his mother. That autumn Eyolf the Gray, son of Thord the Yeller, slew Gisli Surson, and in the spring following, when he was sixteen winters old, Snorri set up house at Holyfell, and abode there twenty and three winters or ever Christ's faith was made law in the land ; but after that he abode eight winters at Holyfell ; and in the last of those winters Thorgest, son of Thorhall, slew Slaying-Stir, the father-in-law of Snorri the Priest, at lorvi in Flisa- wharf.

Thereafter he flitted his household to Saelingsdale-Tongue, and abode there for twenty winters. He had builded a church at Holyfell, and another at Tongue in Sselings-dale, and some folk say that a second time he had a church reared at Holyfell in fellowship with Gudrun, Osvif 's daughter, when that church was burnt down which he himself had erst set up there. He died of sickness in the seventh winter of the seventh ten of his age, and that was one winter after the fall of King Olaf the Holy, and was buried there at his home of Sselings-daleTongue, at the church which he had had reared there himself. Much blessed in a mighty and great offspring he has now become, in that most of the noblest men in the land trace their line of kinship up to him, beside the Birch-islanders in Halogaland, the " Beards" of Gata in Faroe, and many other great folk, both in this and in other lands, whereof the tale is not told here.

MAP FOP

STOEYOFTHE IEATHSLAMNGS

Of Slay ing-Stir. 1 9 1

APPENDIX B.

THE STORY OF THE HEATH-SLAYINGS, OF WHICH ONLY A PART IS LEFT.

BEFORE putting before the reader our translation of this good and ancient Saga, we think it well to give a very brief abstract of part of the story of Slaying-Stir, or rather of the substance of that part, as given from memory after the destruction of the MS., an account of which will be found in the preface to this volume. We only give so much even of this abstract as is necessary to the understanding of the events told of in the Heath-slayings.

Slaying-Stir, the father-in-law of Snorri the Priest, was a violent and very masterful and unjust man. " Though he slew many men, he booted none." Amongst other high-handed deeds he makes an enemy of one Thorhall of lorvi, and treats him so ill, that he makes up his mind to flee the country-side at a time when he thinks Stir is away at the Thing. But Stir misdoubts the matter, waylays Thorhall, and slays him after a stout resistance.

Thorhall left two children behind him, a girl, and a lad named Guest, the latter deemed somewhat of a weakling. He lives on with goodman Thorleik, who took the house of lorvi after his father s death, and is brought up there. Some

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time after Slaying-Stir comes to guest at Thorleik's house where Guest is. Thorleik speaks for his fosterling to Stir, and craves some atonement for the slaying of Guest's father. Stir insults the lad grievously by the offer of a mocking atonement, much as Thorbiorn Thiodrekson does to old Howard.

Guest watches his opportunity and slays Stir in Thorleik's hall, and escapes.

He then takes refuge with his friends in Burgfirth, who, and especially Thorstein Gislison of By, harbour him, Thorstein at last sending him out to Norway, whence he goes to Constantinople, thrives there, and never comes back to Iceland.

Snorri the Priest takes up the blood-feud after Stir, and marches on the Burgfirthers who had harboured Guest, intending to take legal vengeance on them, since Guest had escaped him.

The Burgfirthers meet him in arms, and he is foiled at first ; but afterwards going with a small band, and secretly, he slays Thorstein Gislison and his son Gunnar. One Kolskegg is a foremost man in this slaying ; he, with others who were helping at it, goes to Norway. There certain kinsmen of Thorstein, the sons of Harek, find out that he is in the same town with them, and aim at killing him and lifting his goods. Kolskegg seeks help of an Icelander, called Hall, the son of Gudmund, a noble and generous man, who gives him a ship and goods, wherewith he escapes to England.

It must be understood that this Hall has had nothing to do with the feud between Snorri and the Burgfirthers ; nevertheless, at this point begins

The Heath-slay ings' Story. 193

the story of the Heath-slayings. Hall, being now unshipped, takes berth for Iceland with a man named Thorgils. The sons of Harek find out that Hall has taken their foe out of their power, and fix the feud on Hall, just as Snorri did on Thorstein Gislison ; they entrap him on an island off the coast of Norway, where he and his shipmates had gone aland, and slay him. The shipmaster, Thorgils, brings all Hall's belongings to Iceland,but keeps this slaying hidden till the Thing of the next summer. There he tells of it, and Bardi, the second son of Gudmund (and henceforth the hero of the story), offers his brother's goods to Thorgils, and hardly can get him to take half of them.

Old Gudmund (the father) goes home from the Thing, so heavy-hearted at the death of his son, that he dies in a month's time. Hall was looked upon as far the best of Gudmund's sons, and Bardi seems to have been accounted of little worth.

It is told, that in the autumn after the Thing above-mentioned, Bardi sat down in the seat of his dead brother ; whereon his mother fetches him a clout on the head, and bids him be off, and not to dare sit in Hall's seat while he is yet unavenged.

However, on Bardi lies the burden of the bloodfeud. But once more, as in the earlier case, the slayers themselves are out of his reach ; for the sons of Harek, shortly after they had slain Hall, were cast away and drowned. Therefore it is to the Burgfirthers, their kindred, that Bardi must turn for atonement for his brother ; and the feud that follows takes the shape of something

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like a war between the Burgfirthers, the southern men, and the men of the north.

Bardi takes counsel of one Thorarin, a wise and foreseeing man, who dwelt at Lechmote in Willowdale, and was Bardi's foster-father. Thorarin advises him to ask weregild of Harek on behalf of his sons at the next Althing, and warns him to be moderate and forbearing. Bardi follows his counsel, but Harek, being old, and having handed all his own goods over to his heirs, says he cannot pay, and turns him off on to his kindred. Bardi goes home quietly, sees Thorarin, who bids him claim atonement again peacefully as before ; but he gets no further with his claim, but is well spoken of by all the Mote for his mild conduct of his case.

The third summer Bardi goes once more to Thorarin, before he rides to the Thing ; he bids him claim atonement in the same way as before, but tells him that he thinks he will not have to do this again ; for there is a man come into the business, Gisli, the son of Thorstein, a boastful and masterful man (the same man to whom Grettir the Strong gave the flogging), who will give him such an answer, that the case will be easier to handle than before.

Bardi says he is loth to crave atonement again, but will so do, because he knows that Thorarin's counsels will turn out well for him.

We are now told of a man called Lyng-Torfi, akin to the Gislungs (i.e., the kindred of Thorstein Gislison). He was the greatest scoundrel and ruffler, a strong man, a liar, and full of injustice.

The Heath-slayings Story. 195

He would beat men if he got not his will of them, and lifted what he might ; he was here and there about the land, and was content nowhere.

This man Thorarin bade Bardi bring north with him, if he were at the Thing, for that something would come of it.

So Bardi comes to the Thing, and finds Gisli there, and others of his kin, the Burgfirthers.

On a day amidst of the Thing, Bardi goes to the Hill of Laws, and says :

" So are things waxen, that I have here craved boot for Hall my brother twice already ; need drave me thereto, but little heed was paid to my case. But now meseemeth that there is some hope in thee, Gisli, for paying somewhat, so I need no longer welter in doubt ; and most men will say that we have not pushed the case very hardly ; therefore art thou the more bounden to answer well and goodly."

No man answered before Gisli ; he spake, leaning forward on his spear-shaft : " Well, we ought to answer somewhat, whereas thou drivest on thine errand, and hast called on me openly, although I deem myself nowise straightly bound up with this affair. Now last summer I was in England at the place called Thuvaston ; I sat in the market-place, and had some money to spend, and it lay beside me in a scrip, wherein were seven marks of silver. Now there rode through the market certain hairbrained fellows, and one of them came up to me, and stack his spear into my scrip, and tossed it up to him, and rode away therewith, and no more I wot thereof. Now that will I make over to thee

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for thy brother's gild ; for it seemeth to me this is like to thy case, for I account that silver as a waif and stray ; but no money else will we lay down."

Then spake Eid Skeggison : " Let giant hold his peace when naked at fire ; evilly and witlessly is this done, whereas such great men have part herein."

Gisli answereth : " He shouteth afar thatfighteth few ; and that is to be looked for of thee that thou wouldst speak up for thy kindred even, as we have now heard ;" and he falls to foul words against Eid. But Eid said : " We care not to bandy foul words with thee."

Now men speak with much good will of Bardi's case, and think that the answer has been heavy, so mildly as the claim was put forward withal.

Bardi meets Lyng-Torfi at the Thing, and bids him home to him, as Thorarin had counselled. Bardi goes to Thorarin, and tells him what had happened, and says that it seemed to him to have gone heavily. But Thorarin said :

" Now are things come whither I would, and that has now been laboured out, that wise men look upon the case even in the way we do ourselves ; so that it is now less hard to see where the revenge shall be brought home."

Bardi bade him be master therein.

That summer there was with Bardi in his Thingjourney one Thord, the goodman at Broadford in Waterdale ; he had two horses, all white except for black ears. These horses he deemed beasts so dear, that he would not miss them for any other horses. But it befell for Thord's faring-mishap that both these horses vanished away.

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Now Lyng-Torfi abode behind at Lechmote, and Thorarin treated him wondrous well, so that Lyng-Torfi was light of heart.

There was a man hight Thorgaut, who dwelt at a stead called Sleylech in Burgfirth, a man now much stricken in years, but he had been the stoutest of fighters in his youth. He had a wife, and they two were nought of one mind together, one willing this, the other that ; she was exceeding shrewish, and but middling wise. Thorgaut had good weapons in his coffers, which he had not handled since he had given up warfare.

Now a little after these things, Thorarin fell to talk with Lyng-Torfi, and asked him, how friendly he was with his kinsfolk. He answered that there was little love lost between them.

"Wilt thou strike a bargain with me?" says Thorarin. " It is told me that Thorgaut thy kinsman has a good sword, and if thou wilt go and get it for me, I will give thee some goodly stallions."

Lyng-Torfi is glad enough to do this ; so Thorarin hands over to him a big knife to give to Thorgaut's wife, so that she may abet him.

" I hear tell," says Thorarin, " that those weapons are wealthy of victory. Now thou wilt not be at a loss, how to hatch a lie for a likely cause why thou cravest the weapons."

Lyng-Torfi bids him have no fear of that, and he goes eagerly into the bargain. Then he runs south over the Heath, and comes of an evening down into Whitewater-side to a kinsman of his, Thorbiorn, the son of Bruni, who dwelt at the Walls. He is there the night over, and bids him lend him

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a weapon, saying that a certain Eastman north in Oxdale had challenged him to a single fight about a woman whom both would have ; and that the appointed day was in a half-month's space, and that he might nowhere get a weapon ; and he tells a likely tale as to where he had had night-harbours in his journey. Thorbiorn answers that this will be all a .lie, and that he will get no weapon of him. Lyng-Torfi was ill content, and ran over to Thorgaut, who had the sword, and tells him what business he has on hand, and about his night-harbours as at the first house.

He was well taken in, but nothing more. Then he prays Thorgaut to lend him a weapon, and says that he will never be in more need of it than now. Thorgaut answers, that other things lie nearer to him than to meddle in Lyng-Torfi's brawls with other folk, and that he may look to his own womenaffairs himself, nor should he let go out of his hand the sword to him. So Lyng-Torfi goes to Thorgaut's wife, and tells her of his matter, and gives her the knife ; she takes it, and deems it a right good thing, and runs at her swiftest to her husband, and is very shrewish in talk, saying that it is a great shame that he will not help his kindred at a pinch. " What hast thou, an old fretting carle, to do with such a good weapon now thou art off thy feet ? It lieth rusting in the chest-bottom, and by this time there is little avail in it."

He answers, as before, that Lyng-Torfi is not so much to him, that he would let his sword go out of his hand to him, that no man would ever have done such a thing as to dare beset him with guile.

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Then she goes and breaks open the chest wherein lay the sword, and hands it over to Lyng-Torfi, who straightway steals away for the north, and brings it to Thorarin. Thorarin says that he has carried through his errand well, and bids him take horses and fare first northward a while, to put; himself out of the way of his kinsmen. LyngTorfi thanks him for the good gift, goes away with the horses, and is out of the story.

[The old MS. of the Heath-slay ings Saga begins here, but with the broken end of a chapter which will not yield any consecutive tale ; and which consequently we omit.]