Chapter 6
A little while after this Hafgrim left home, and there went with him six men and Guðrið his wife. They took a boat and fared to Sandey, where his kinsmen Snæulf dwelt, the father of Guðrið his wife. When they reached the island, they could see no one out of doors on the farm, nor any one out on the island. Then they went up to the homestead and into the house, and there they found no one. Then they went into the hearth-room, and there was the board set out, and meat and drink on it, but there was no one to be found, and they wondered at that. They stayed there that night, but next morning they made them ready to leave, and rowed away along the island. Then from the other side of the island there rowed out to meet them a boat full of people, and they saw that it was yeoman Snæulf and all his household. So Hafgrim rowed towards them, and greeted Snæulf, his father-in-law, but he answered him not a word. Then Hafgrim asked him what counsel he would give him on his suit with Breste and his brother, so that he might win honour by it. Snæulf answered him: "It is ill-done of thee," says he, "to have meddled without a cause with better men than thyself; but ever the lowest lot fell to thee. ""Methinks I should get something better than blame from thee," says Hafgrim, "and I will not listen to thee. "Then Snæulf snatched up a spear and cast it at Hafgrim, but Hafgrim covered himself with his shield, and the spear stood fast in it, and he was not wounded. So they parted, and Hafgrim fared home to Southrey, and was ill-pleased with his luck.
Hafgrim and Guðrið his wife had a son whose name was Ossur. He was nine winters old, and a most promising lad when these things happened.
Now after some time had passed. Hafgrim fared from home to Eastrey to Thrond, and Thrond welcomed him kindly; and then Hafgrim sought counsel of Thrond as to what he would have him do in the matter of the suit with Breste and Beine, the men of Scufey. He said, moreover, that Thrond was the wisest man in the islands, and that he would gladly give him some fee for his counsel. Thrond said that he was seeking a strange boon of him in asking him to put himself at odds with his own kinsman. "And thou surely canst not be in earnest; yet I guess that it is so with thee, that thou wouldst fain have other men in the matter with thee, but art grudging to do what is in thy power to get thy business forwarded. ""It is not so," quoth Hafgrim, "and I will make thee a great offer now, if thou wilt be in counsel with me in this case, so that I may take those brethren's lives. "Thrond answered him: "I will be with thee in thy doings against these brethren, but thou shalt promise to give me two cows' worth every spring, and two hundreds worth in meat every fall, and this payment shall go on all thy life's day, and it shall not cease at thy death. Moreover, I am not willing to stand with thee in this case without more men are bound up in it. And I will have thee seek to Bearne my mother's brother in Swiney, and get him to be with thee in the case. "Hafgrim agreed to the bargain, and fared out thence to Swiney, and found Bearne, and besought him for his help in the matter, as Thrond had counselled him. Bearne answered him to the intent that he was not willing to go into the matter without he got some gain at his hands. Then Hafgrim bade him tell him his mind; and Bearne said, "Thou shalt give me three cows' worth every spring, and every fall three hundreds' worth in meat,"Hafgrim took this offer, and the matter being settled so, went home again.
Chapter 7
Now it must be told of the two brethren, Breste and Beine, that they had two homesteads, one in Scufey and the other in Dimun. Breste had a wife whose name was Cecilia. She was of Northern kin. They had a son whose name was Sigmund, and he was nine winters old when these things came to pass. He was both big and handsome. Beine had a leman whose name was Thora, and a son by her whose name was Thore, and he was eleven winters old at this time, and the hopefulest of lads.
Now it must be told that once on a time, while the two brothers Breste and Beine were dwelling at their homestead at Dimun, they were minded to fare out to little Dimun, whereon no man dwelt, and there they were wont to let their sheep feed, and the cattle they meant to kill. The two boys, Sigmund and Thore, begged to go with them, and the brethren suffered them to go, and they all went out to the island. The brethren had their weapons with them. Of Breste it is said that he was both big and strong, and a better swordsman than any other man, and a wise man withal, and beloved of all his friends. Beine, his brother, was a good man of his hands, and well skilled in feats, but he was not a match for his brother. Now soon they put out from the little Dimun, and as they steered their course for the greater Dimun, which men dwell in, they saw three boats with twelve men. They knew the men when they saw them. In one boat was Hafgrim of Southrey, Thrond of Gate was in another, and Bearne of Swiney in the third. They steered in between the brothers and the island, and cut them off from their landing-place; but the brethren brought up their boat at a place on the foreshore. There was a jutting rock above them, and they sprang up on it with their weapons in their hands, and set the two boys down beside them on the cliff. The cliff hung over both sides down to the sea, and here they stood, and it was a good place of vantage. Soon Hafgrim and they that were with him came up in their three boats and leapt out of the boats on to the foreshore where the cliff was; and Hafgrim and Swiney-Bearne made an onslaught upon the two brothers, but they defended themselves well and manfully. Thrond and his boat's crew reached the shore after the others, and they were not in that onset. Breste held the rock where it was easier to set on him and the worse to keep. Now they fought for a while, but could do little against the brethren. Then spake Hafgrim: "I thought thou, at least, Thrond, wouldst give me thy help, and that is why I gave thee my fee. "Thrond answered him, "Thou art the greatest of cowards surely, that canst not get the better of two men though thou hast two dozen with thee. But it is ever thy way to have others for targets before thee, and little thou carest to come near where any risk is. It were the best thing, if there be any heart in thee, for thee to set on Breste first, and let the others follow thee. Otherwise I see that thou canst do no good. "And he egged him on as hotly as he could. Then Hafgrim sprang up on the rock before Breste, and made at him with a spear, and drove it at his middle, and thrust him through. And when Breste felt that he had got his death-wound, he thrust himself forward on the spear towards Hafgrim, and hewed at him with his sword, and the stroke fell on Hafgrim's left shoulder, and clove down through shoulder and side, so that his arm fell down on the ground, and Hafgrim dropt down dead off the cliff, and Breste over him, and there they both lost their life. Then in the second place they set upon Beine, and he defended himself well; but the end was that he also lost his life there. Men say that Breste killed three men before he slew Hafgrim; Beine also slew two men there before he died. And when they were dead, Thrond bade slay the two boys, Sigmund and Thore. Bearne answered him, "They shall not be slain!""Yea," said Thrond, "nevertheless, if they are saved they will be the death of most of the men that are here today. "But Bearne said, "Ye shall slay me first!"Then said Thrond, "I never meant what I said; I only spake to try how thou wouldst take it; and now I will make it up to the boys for my being here today at this fight, and I offer to foster them. "The two boys were sitting on the cliff looking on while all these things happened, and Thore wept, but Sigmund said, "Do not let us weep, kinsman, but let us think on it the longer. "In the end they all went off, and Thrond took the boys home to Gate with him. Hafgrim's body was borne to Southrey, and there laid to earth after the old way; and the friends of Breste and Beine took their bodies home to Scufey, and buried them there after the old way. Now these things were spread abroad over all the Færeys, and every one mourned for the two brethren.
Chapter 8
That summer there came a ship from Norway to the Færeys, and the skipper's name was Raven. He was a Wick-man by kin, and owned a homestead at Tunsberg. He often sailed to Holmgard, and he was nicknamed Holmgard-farer. His ship came into Thorshavn, and when the chapmen were bound again for sailing, it must be told that one morning Thrond o'Gate put off in a skiff, and he came on board and led Raven aside, and told him that he had two young thralls to sell him. Raven said he would not buy them before he saw them. Then Thrond led forward two boys with cropped heads in white cowls. They were handsome boys to look on, but their faces were swollen with rage. When Raven saw the boys, he asked Thrond, "These boys are the sons of Breste and Beine, whom you slew a short while ago; is it not so, Thrond?""I think it is so, indeed," said Thrond. "Then they shall never come into my power,"said Raven, "if I am to give money for them. ""Then let us come to an understanding," said Thrond, "Do thou take these two marks of silver, which I will give thee, if thou wilt take them on board with thee, so that they never come back again to the Færeys. "Then he poured the silver into the skipper's lap, and told it out for him to see. And Raven saw that the silver was good, and in the end matters went so that he took the boys with him. As soon as he got a fair wind he put to sea, and made land off Norway, as he wished, east of Tunsberg, and there he stayed through the winter, and the boys with him, and they were well cared for.
Chapter 9
In the spring he got his ship ready for the eastward voyage and asked the boys how they thought they had come off. "Well," Sigmund answered, "if we think on the time when we were in Thrond's power. "Then asked Raven, "Do you know the bargain that was made between us two, Thrond and me?""We are well aware of that," said Sigmund. "I guess," said Raven, "the best thing will be for you two to go where you like for me. And as for the silver that Thrond gave into my hand along with you, I guess the best thing will be for you to have it for your keep, and ye are far too helpless withal in an unknown land. "Sigmund thanked him, and said that he had treated them like a man as long as they had known him.
Now of Thrond it must be told that he took under him the whole lordship of the Færeys, and all the goods and holdings that those brethren, Breste and Beine, his kinsmen, had owned. And he took the boy Ossur Hafgrim's son home to himself into fosterage. Ossur was then ten winters old. And now Thrond ruled alone over all the Færeys, and no man dared gainsay him.
Chapter 10
The summer the two brothers, Breste and Beine, were slain, there was a change of kings in Norway. Harold Grayfell was slain off the land and Earl Hacon came in his stead, and at first he was tributary Earl to King Harold Gormsson, and held the realm of him. And with this the rule of the sons of Gundhild was clean ended; some were slain and some were driven out of the land.
Now of Sigmund and Thore it must be told that they stayed two winters in the Wick after Raven let them go free, and by that time all the money that Raven had given them was spent. Sigmund was then twelve winters old and Thore fourteen. They heard of Earl Hacon's getting the kingdom, and it seemed to them the best thing to go and see him if they could win thither, for they thought they would most likely get some good by it, inasmuch as their fathers had served him. So they went out of the Wick into Upland, and then away east over Heath-mark, and north on to the Dover-fells; and by the time they got there it was winter, and they met with snowstorms and bad weather. Then they went up on the fells with little counsel, and fared wild and badly, and lay out many days without food. At last Thore lay down, and begged Sigmund to save his own life and seek down off the fell. Sigmund told him they would get down both together or neither of them. And so unlike were they in strength, that Sigmund took up Thore on his back and walked on farther still. And now they were both sore weary. But one evening they came to a little dale off the fell, and they went down it, and at last they smelt a smell of smoke, and close by they found a house. They went in, and found a room wherein two women were sitting; one was of middle age, but the other was a young girl; both were fair of face. They received the boys kindly, and took off their clothes and brought them dry clothes instead, and quickly gave them food to eat, and afterwards sent them to sleep, treating them kindly, and telling them that they must not be in the way when the goodman came home, "for," said they, "he is quick of temper. "But Sigmund woke as a man came in; great of growth he was, and clad in a reindeer hide, and he was carrying a reindeer on his back. He drew his nostrils up and frowned, and asked what was come thither. The goodwife said that there were two boys come, "little boys, cold, and almost tired to death. "He answered her, "Thou art taking the best way to let folks know where we are by taking folk into our house, and so I have often told thee. ""I could not bear," said the goodwife, "that two such pretty boys should die here beside our house. "The yeoman let the matter pass, and they went to meat and afterward to sleep. There were two beds in the sleeping-room---the yeoman and the goodwife lay in one, and the yeoman's daughter in the other. But they made a place for the boys somewhere in the house. In the morning the yeoman was early afoot and he spoke to the two boys: "Since the women wish it, I am content for you to stay here today, if it please you. "They said they would gladly stay.