Njal's Saga by Anonymous Page B

death – and when Hrut found out about it, he killed Thjostolf.’
    Thorarin became silent then and felt that the situation would be hard to solve.
    Hrut spoke: ‘Let’s make his trip honourable. He has surely had a great loss and it will be well spoken of if we give him gifts and he becomes our friend for life.’
    The outcome was that the brothers gave him gifts. Thorarin then rode back south.
    He and Hallgerd exchanged farms in the spring: she went south to Laugarnes and he went to Varmalaek. Thorarin is now out of the saga.

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    To tell now about Mord Gigja: he took ill and died, and that was thought a great loss. His daughter Unn inherited all his property. She had not been married a second time. She was very lavish and improvident with her property, and her wealth wasted away until she had nothing but land and personal items.

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    There was a man named Gunnar. He was related to Unn. His mother was named Rannveig, and she was the daughter of Sigfus, the son of Sighvat the Red; he was slain at the ferry at Sandholar. 1 Gunnar’s father was named Hamund; he was the son of Gunnar Baugsson, from whom Gunnarsholt gets its name. Hamund’s mother was named Hrafnhild; she was the daughter of Storolf Haengsson. Storolf was the brother of Hrafn the Lawspeaker, and his son was Orm the Strong.
    Gunnar Hamundarson lived at Hlidarendi in Fljotshlid. He was big and strong and an excellent fighter. He could swing a sword and throw a spear with either hand, if he wished, and he was so swift with a sword that there seemed to be three in the air at once. He shot witha bow better than anyone else, and he always hit what he aimed at. He could jump higher than his own height, in full fighting gear, and just as far backward as forward. He swam like a seal, and there was no sport in which there was any point in competing with him and it was said that no man was his match.
    He was handsome and fair of skin and had a straight nose, turned up at its tip. He was blue-eyed and keen-eyed and ruddy-cheeked, with thick hair, blond and well-combed. He was very well-mannered, firm in all ways, generous and even-tempered, a true friend but a discriminating friend. He was very well off for property.
    His brother was named Kolskegg; he was big and strong, a fine man and reliable in all ways. A second brother was named Hjort; he was then in his childhood. Orm Skogarnef was a bastard brother of Gunnar’s, but he does not come into this saga.
    Arngunn was the name of Gunnar’s sister; she was married to Hroar the Godi of Tunga, who was the son of Uni the Unborn, 2 the son of Gardar who discovered Iceland. Arngunn’s son was Hamund the Lame, who lived at Hamundarstadir.

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    There was a man named Njal; he was the son of Thorgeir Gollnir, the son of Thorolf Njal’s mother was Asgerd, the daughter of the Norwegian hersir Askel the Silent; she had come out to Iceland and settled to the east of the Markarfljot river, between Oldustein and Seljalandsmuli. Her son was Holta-Thorir, the father of Thorleif Crow, from whom the people of Skogar are descended, of Thorgrim the Tall and of Thorgeir Skorargeir.
    Njal lived at Bergthorshvol in the Landeyjar. He had a second farm at Thorolfsfell. He was well off for property and handsome to look at, but there was one thing about him: no beard grew on him. He was so well versed in the law that he had no equal, and he was wise and prophetic, sound of advice and well-intentioned, and whatever course he counselled turned out well. He was modest and noble-spirited, able to see far into the future and remember far into the past, and he solved the problems of whoever turned to him.
    Bergthora was his wife’s name. She was the daughter of Skarphedin,a woman with a mind of her own and a fine person, but a bit harsh-tempered. They had six children, three daughters and three sons, and the sons all play a part in this saga.

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    To tell now about Unn, who had lost all her money: she travelled