Burnt Njal 142-144 by Icelandic Saga Lyrics

CHAPTER CXLII.

OF EYJOLF BOLVERK'S SON.


Then Eyjolf Bolverk's son went before the court, and took witness to
this--

"I take witness that this is a lawful defence in this cause, that ye
have pleaded the suit in the Eastfirthers' Court, when ye ought to have
pleaded it in the Northlanders' Court; for Flosi has declared himself
one of the Thingmen of Askel the priest; and here now are those two
witnesses who were by, and who will bear witness that Flosi handed over
his priesthood to his brother Thorgeir, but afterwards declared himself
one of Askel the priest's Thingmen. I take witness to this for my own
part, and for those who may need to make use of it."

Again Eyjolf took witness--"I take witness," he said, "to this, that I
bid Mord who pleads this suit, or the next of kin, to listen to my oath,
and to my declaration of the defence which I am about to bring forward;
I bid him by a lawful bidding before the court, so that the judges may
hear me".
Again Eyjolf took witness--

"I take witness to this, that I swear an oath on the book, a lawful
oath, and say it before God, that I will so defend this cause, in the
most truthful, and most just, and most lawful way, so far as I know, and
so fulfil all lawful duties which belong to me at this Thing."

Then Eyjolf said--

"These two men I take to witness that I bring forward this lawful
defence that this suit was pleaded in another Quarter Court, than that
in which it ought to have been pleaded; and I say that for this sake
their suit has come to naught; I utter this defence in this shape before
the Eastfirthers' Court."

After that he let all the witness be brought forward which belonged to
the defence, and then he took witness to all the steps in the defence to
prove that they had all been duly taken.

After that Eyjolf again took witness and said--

"I take witness to this, that I forbid the judges, by a lawful protest
before the priest, to utter judgment in the suit of Mord and his
friends, for now a lawful defence has been brought before the court. I
forbid you by a protest made before a priest; by a full, fair, and
binding protest; as I have a right to forbid you by the common custom of
the Althing, and by the law of the land."
After that he called on the judges to pronounce for the defence.

Then Asgrim and his friends brought on the other suits for the Burning,
and those suits took their course.




CHAPTER CXLIII.

THE COUNSEL OF THORHALL ASGRIM'S SON.


Now Asgrim and his friends sent a man to Thorhall, and let him be told
in what a strait they had come.

"Too far off was I now," answers Thorhall, "for this cause might still
not have taken this turn if I had been by. I now see their course that
they must mean to summon you to the Fifth Court for contempt of the
Thing. They must also mean to divide the Eastfirthers' Court in the suit
for the Burning, so that no judgment may be given, for now they behave
so as to show that they will stay at no ill. Now shalt thou go back to
them as quickly as thou canst, and say that Mord must summon them both,
both Flosi and Eyjolf, for having brought money into the Fifth Court,
and make it a case of lesser outlawry. Then he shall summon them with a
second summons for that they have brought forward that witness which had
nothing to do with their cause, and so were guilty of contempt of the
Thing; and tell them that I say this, that if two suits for lesser
outlawry hang over one and the same man, that he shall be adjudged a
thorough outlaw at once. And for this ye must set your suits on foot
first, that then ye will first go to trial and judgment."
Now the messenger went his way back and told Mord and Asgrim.

After that they went to the Hill of Laws, and Mord Valgard's son took
witness.

"I take witness to this that I summon Flosi Thord's son, for that he
gave money for his help here at the Thing to Eyjolf Bolverk's son. I say
that he ought on this charge to be made a guilty outlaw, for this sake
alone to be forwarded or to be allowed the right of frithstow
[sanctuary], if his fine and bail are brought forward at the execution
levied on his house and goods, but else to become a thorough outlaw. I
say all his goods are forfeited, half to me and half to the men of the
Quarter who have the right by law to take his goods after he has been
outlawed. I summon this cause before the Fifth Court, whither the cause
ought to come by law; I summon it to be pleaded now and to full
outlawry. I summon with a lawful summons. I summon in the hearing of all
men at the Hill of Laws."

With a like summons he summoned Eyjolf Bolverk's son, for that he had
taken and received the money, and he summoned him for that sake to the
Fifth Court.

Again a second time he summoned Flosi and Eyjolf, for that sake that
they had brought forward that witness at the Thing which had nothing
lawfully to do with the cause of the parties, and had so been guilty of
contempt of the Thing; and he laid the penalty for that at lesser
outlawry.

Then they went away to the Court of Laws, there the Fifth Court was then
set.

Now when Mord and Asgrim had gone away, then the judges in the
Eastfirthers' Court could not agree how they should give judgment, for
some of them wished to give judgment for Flosi, but some for Mord and
Asgrim. Then Flosi and Eyjolf tried to divide the court, and there they
stayed, and lost time over that while the summoning at the Hill of Laws
was going on. A little while after Flosi and Eyjolf were told that they
had been summoned at the Hill of Laws into the Fifth Court, each of them
with two summons. Then Eyjolf said--

"In an evil hour have we loitered here while they have been before us in
quickness of summoning. Now hath come out Thorhall's cunning, and no man
is his match in wit. Now they have the first right to plead their cause
before the court, and that was everything for them; but still we will go
to the Hill of Laws, and set our suit on foot against them, though that
will now stand us in little stead."

Then they fared to the Hill of Laws, and Eyjolf summoned them for
contempt of the Thing.

After that they went to the Fifth Court.

Now we must say that when Mord and Asgrim came to the Fifth Court, Mord
took witness and bade them listen to his oath and the declaration of
his suit, and to all those proofs and steps which he meant to bring
forward against Flosi and Eyjolf. He bade them by a lawful bidding
before the court, so that the judges could hear him across the court.

In the Fifth Court vouchers had to follow the oaths of the parties, and
they had to take an oath after them.

Mord took witness.

"I take witness," he said, "to this, that I take a Fifth Court oath. I
pray God so to help me in this light and in the next, as I shall plead
this suit as I know to be most truthful, and just, and lawful. I believe
with all my heart that Flosi is truly guilty in this suit, if I may
bring forward my proofs; and I have not brought money into this court in
this suit, and I will not bring it. I have not taken money, and I will
not take it, neither for a lawful nor for an unlawful end."

The men who were Mord's vouchers then went two of them before the court,
and took witness to this--

"We take witness that we take an oath on the book, a lawful oath; we
pray God so to help us two in this light and in the next, as we lay it
on our honour that we believe with all our hearts that Mord will so
plead this suit as he knows to be most truthful, and most just, and most
lawful, and that he hath not brought money into this court in this suit
to help himself, and that he will not offer it, and that he hath not
taken money, nor will he take it, either for a lawful or unlawful end."

Mord had summoned nine neighbours who lived next to the Thingfield on
the inquest in the suit, and then Mord took witness, and declared those
four suits which he had set on foot against Flosi and Eyjolf; and Mord
used all those words in his declaration that he had used in his summons.
He declared his suits for outlawry in the same shape before the Fifth
Court as he had uttered them when he summoned the defendants.

Mord took witness, and bade those nine neighbours on the inquest to take
their seats west on the river-bank.

Mord took witness again, and bade Flosi and Eyjolf to challenge the
inquest.

They went up to challenge the inquest, and looked narrowly at them, but
could get none of them set aside; then they went away as things stood,
and were very ill pleased with their case.

Then Mord took witness, and bade those nine neighbours whom he had
before called on the inquest, to utter their finding, and to bring it in
either for or against Flosi.

Then the neighbours on Mord's inquest came before the court, and one
uttered the finding, but all the rest confirmed it by their consent.
They had all taken the Fifth Court oath, and they brought in Flosi as
truly guilty in the suit, and brought in their finding against him. They
brought it in in such a shape before the Fifth Court over the head of
the same man over whose head Mord had already declared his suit. After
that they brought in all those findings which they were bound to bring
in in all the other suits, and all was done in lawful form.

Eyjolf Bolverk's son and Flosi watched to find a flaw in the
proceedings, but could get nothing done.

Then Mord Valgard's son took witness. "I take witness," said he, "to
this, that these nine neighbours whom I called on these suits which I
have had hanging over the heads of Flosi Thord's son, and Eyjolf
Bolverk's son, have now uttered their finding, and have brought them in
truly guilty in these suits."

He took this witness for his own part.

Again Mord took witness.

"I take witness," he said, "to this, that I bid Flosi Thord's son, or
that other man who has taken his lawful defence in hand, now to begin
their defence; for now all the steps and proofs have been brought
forward in the suit, summons to listen to oaths, oaths taken, suit
declared, witness taken to the summons, neighbours called on to take
their seats on the inquest, defendant called on to challenge the
inquest, finding uttered, witness taken to the finding."

He took this witness to all the steps that had been taken in the suit.

Then that man stood up over whose head the suit had been declared and
pleaded, and summed up the case. He summed up first how Mord had bade
them listen to his oath, and to his declaration of the suit, and to all
the steps and proofs in it; then he summed up next how Mord took his
oath and his vouchers theirs; then he summed up how Mord pleaded his
suit, and used the very words in his summing up that Mord had before
used in declaring and pleading his suit, and which he had used in his
summons, and he said that the suit came before the Fifth Court in the
same shape as it was when he uttered it at the summoning. Then he summed
up that men had borne witness to the summoning, and repeated all those
words that Mord had used in his summons, and which they had used in
bearing their witness, "and which I now," he said, "have used in my
summing up, and they bore their witness in the same shape before the
Fifth Court as he uttered them at the summoning". After that he summed
up that Mord bade the neighbours on the inquest to take their seats,
then he told next of all how he bade Flosi to challenge the inquest, or
that man who had undertaken this lawful defence for him; then he told
how the neighbours went to the court, and uttered their finding, and
brought in Flosi truly guilty in the suit, and how they brought in the
finding of an inquest of nine men in that shape before the Fifth Court.
Then he summed up how Mord took witness to all the steps in the suit,
and how he had bidden the defendant to begin his defence.

After that Mord Valgard's son took witness. "I take witness," he said,
"to this, that I forbid Flosi Thord's son, or that other man who has
undertaken the lawful defence for him, to set up his defence; for now
are all the steps taken which belong to the suit, when the case has been
summed up and the proofs repeated."

After that the foreman added these words of Mord to his summing up.

Then Mord took witness, and prayed the judges to give judgment in this
suit.

Then Gizur the white said, "Thou wilt have to do more yet, Mord, for
four twelves can have no right to pass judgment."

Now Flosi said to Eyjolf, "What counsel is to be taken now?"

Then Eyjolf said, "Now we must make the best of a bad business; but
still, we will bide our time, for now I guess that they will make a
false step in their suit, for Mord prayed for judgment at once in the
suit, but they ought to call and set aside six men out of the court, and
after that they ought to offer us to call and set aside six other men,
but we will not do that, for then they ought to call and set aside those
six men, and they will perhaps overlook that; then all their case has
come to naught if they do not do that, for three twelves have to judge
in every cause".

"Thou art a wise man, Eyjolf," said Flosi, "so that few can come nigh
thee."

Mord Valgard's son took witness.

"I take witness," he said, "to this, that I call and set aside these six
men out of the court"--and named them all by name--"I do not allow you
to sit in the court; I call you out and set you aside by the rightful
custom of the Althing, and the law of the land."

After that he offered Eyjolf and Flosi, before witnesses, to call out by
name and set aside other six men, but Flosi and Eyjolf would not call
them out.

Then Mord made them pass judgment in the cause; but when the judgment
was given, Eyjolf took witness, and said that all their judgment had
come to naught, and also everything else that had been done, and his
ground was that three twelves and one half had judged, when three only
ought to have given judgment.

"And now we will follow up our suits before the Fifth Court," said
Eyjolf, "and make them outlaws."

Then Gizur the white said to Mord Valgard's son--

"Thou hast made a very great mistake in taking such a false step, and
this is great ill-luck; but what counsel shall we now take, kinsman
Asgrim?" says Gizur.

Then Asgrim said--"Now we will send a man to my son Thorhall, and know
what counsel he will give us".




CHAPTER CXLIV.

BATTLE AT THE ALTHING.


Now Snorri the priest hears how the causes stood, and then he begins to
draw up his men in array below the "Great Rift," between it and
Hadbooth, and laid down beforehand to his men how they were to behave.

Now the messenger comes to Thorhall Asgrim's son, and tells him how
things stood, and how Mord Valgard's son and his friends would all be
made outlaws, and the suits for manslaughter be brought to naught.

But when he heard that, he was so shocked at it that he could not utter
a word. He jumped up then from his bed, and clutched with both hands his
spear, Skarphedinn's gift, and drove it through his foot; then flesh
clung to the spear, and the eye of the boil too, for he had cut it
clean out of the foot, but a torrent of blood and matter poured out, so
that it fell in a stream along the floor. Now he went out of the booth
unhalting, and walked so hard that the messenger could not keep up with
him, and so he goes until he came to the Fifth Court. There he met Grim
the red, Flosi's kinsman, and as soon as ever they met, Thorhall thrust
at him with the spear, and smote him on the shield and clove it in
twain, but the spear passed right through him, so that the point came
out between his shoulders. Thorhall cast him off his spear.

Then Kari Solmund's son caught sight of that, and said to Asgrim--

"Here, now, is come Thorhall thy son, and has straightway slain a man,
and this is a great shame, if he alone shall have the heart to avenge
the Burning."

"That shall not be," says Asgrim, "but let us turn on them now."

Then there was a mighty cry all over the host, and then they shouted
their war-cries.

Flosi and his friends then turned against their foes, and both sides
egged on their men fast.

Kari Solmund's son turned now thither where Arni Kol's son and Hallbjorn
the strong were in front, and as soon as ever Hallbjorn saw Kari, he
made a blow at him, and aimed at his leg, but Kari leapt up into the
air, and Hallbjorn missed him. Kari turned on Arni Kol's son and cut at
him, and smote him on the shoulder, and cut asunder the shoulder blade
and collar bone, and the blow went right down into his breast, and Arni
fell down dead at once to earth.

After that he hewed at Hallbjorn and caught him on the shield, and the
blow passed through the shield, and so down and cut off his great toe.
Holmstein hurled a spear at Kari, but he caught it in the air, and sent
it back, and it was a man's death in Flosi's band.

Thorgeir Craggeir came up to where Hallbjorn the strong was in front,
and Thorgeir made such a spear-thrust at him with his left hand that
Hallbjorn fell before it, and had hard work to get on his feet again,
and turned away from the fight there and then. Then Thorgeir met
Thorwalld Kettle rumble's son, and hewed at him at once with the axe,
"the ogress of war," which Skarphedinn had owned. Thorwalld threw his
shield before him, and Thorgeir hewed the shield and cleft it from top
to bottom, but the upper horn of the axe made its way into his breast,
and passed into his trunk, and Thorwalld fell and was dead at once.

Now it must be told how Asgrim Ellidagrim's son, and Thorhall his son,
Hjallti Skeggi's son, and Gizur the white, made an onslaught where Flosi
and the sons of Sigfus, and the other Burners were; then there was a
very hard fight, and the end of it was that they pressed on so hard,
that Flosi and his men gave way before them. Gudmund the powerful, and
Mord Valgard's son, and Thorgeir Craggeir, made their onslaught where
the Axefirthers and Eastfirthers, and the men of Reykdale stood, and
there too there was a very hard fight.

Kari Solmund's son came up where Bjarni Broddhelgi's son had the lead.
Kari caught up a spear and thrust at him, and the blow fell on his
shield. Bjarni slipped the shield on one side of him, else it had gone
straight through him. Then he cut at Kari and aimed at his leg, but Kari
drew back his leg and turned short round on his heel, and Bjarni missed
him. Kari cut at once at him, and then a man ran forward and threw his
shield before Bjarni. Kari cleft the shield in twain, and the point of
the sword caught his thigh, and ripped up the whole leg down to the
ankle. That man fell there and then, and was ever after a cripple so
long as he lived.

Then Kari clutched his spear with both hands, and turned on Bjarni and
thrust at him; he saw he had no other chance but to throw himself down
side-long away from the blow, but as soon as ever Bjarni found his feet,
away he fell back out of the fight.

Thorgeir Craggeir and Gizur the white fell on there where Holmstein the
son of Bersi the wise, and Thorkel Geiti's son were leaders, and the end
of the struggle was, that Holmstein and Thorkel gave way, and then arose
a mighty hooting after them from the men of Gudmund the powerful.

Thorwalld Tjorfi's son of Lightwater got a great wound; he was shot in
the forearm, and men thought that Halldor Gudmund the powerful's son had
hurled the spear, but he bore that wound about with him all his life
long, and got no atonement for it.

Now there was a mighty throng. But though we hear tell of some of the
deeds that were done, still there are far many more of which men have
handed down no stories.

Flosi had told them that they should make for the stronghold in the
Great Rift if they were worsted, "for there," said he, "they will only
be able to attack us on one side". But the band which Hall of the Side
and his son Ljot led, had fallen away out of the fight before the
onslaught of that father and son, Asgrim and Thorhall. They turned down
east of Axewater, and Hall said--

"This is a sad state of things when the whole host of men at the Thing
fight, and I would, kinsman Ljot, that we begged us help even though
that be brought against us by some men, and that we part them. Thou
shalt wait for me at the foot of the bridge, and I will go to the booths
and beg for help."

"If I see," said Ljot, "that Flosi and his men need help from our men,
then I will at once run up and aid them."

"Thou wilt do in that as thou pleasest," says Hall, "but I pray thee to
wait for me here."

Now flight breaks out in Flosi's band, and they all fly west across
Axewater; but Asgrim and Gizur the white went after them and all their
host. Flosi and his men turned down between the river and the Outwork
booth. Snorri the priest had drawn up his men there in array, so thick
that they could not pass that way, and Snorri the priest called out then
to Flosi--

"Why are ye in such haste, or who chase you?"

"Thou askest not this," answered Flosi, "because thou dost not know it
already; but whose fault is it that we cannot get to the stronghold in
the Great Rift?"

"It is not my fault," says Snorri, "but it is quite true that I know
whose fault it is, and I will tell thee if thou wilt; it is the fault of
Thorwalld cropbeard and Kol."

They were both then dead, but they had been the worst men in all Flosi's
band.

Again Snorri said to his men--

"Now do both, cut at them and thrust at them, and drive them away hence,
they will then hold out but a short while here, if the others attack
them from below; but then ye shall not go after them, but let both sides
shift for themselves."

The son of Skapti Thorod's son was Thorstein gapemouth, as was written
before, he was in the battle with Gudmund the powerful, his
father-in-law, and as soon as Skapti knew that, he went to the booth of
Snorri the priest, and meant to beg for help to part them; but just
before he had got as far as the door of Snorri's booth, there the battle
was hottest of all. Asgrim and his friends and his men were just coming
up thither, and then Thorhall said to his father Asgrim--

"See there now is Skapti Thorod's son, father."

"I see him, kinsman," said Asgrim, and then he shot a spear at Skapti,
and struck him just below where the calf was fattest, and so through
both his legs. Skapti fell at the blow, and could not get up again, and
the only counsel they could take who were by, was to drag Skapti flat on
his face into the booth of a turf-cutter.

Then Asgrim and his men came up so fast that Flosi and his men gave way
before them south along the river to the booths of the men of Modruvale.
There there was a man outside one booth whose name was Solvi; he was
boiling broth in a great kettle, and had just then taken the meat out,
and the broth was boiling as hotly as it could.

Solvi cast his eyes on the Eastfirthers us they fled, and they were then
just over against him, and then he said--"Can all these cowards who fly
here be Eastfirthers, and yet Thorkel Geiti's son, he ran by as fast as
any one of them, and very great lies have been told about him when men
say that he is all heart, but now no one ran faster than he".

Hallbjorn the strong was near by them, and said--

"Thou shalt not have it to say that we are all cowards."

And with that he caught hold of him, and lifted him up aloft, and thrust
him head down into the broth-kettle. Solvi died at once; but then a rush
was made at Hallbjorn himself, and he had to turn and fly.

Flosi threw a spear at Bruni Haflidi's son, and caught him at the waist,
and that was his bane; he was one of Gudmund the powerful's band.

Thorstein Hlenni's son took the spear out of the wound, and hurled it
back at Flosi, and hit him on the leg, and he got a great wound and
fell; he rose up again at once.

Then they passed on to the Waterfirther's booth, and then Hall and Ljot
came from the east across the river, with all their band; but just when
they came to the lava, a spear was hurled out of the band of Gudmund the
powerful, and it struck Ljot in the middle, and he fell down dead at
once; and it was never known surely who had done that manslaughter.

Flosi and his men turned up round the Waterfirther's booth, and then
Thorgeir Craggeir said to Kari Solmund's son--

"Look, yonder now is Eyjolf Bolverk's son, if thou hast a mind to pay
him off for the ring."

"That I ween is not far from my mind," says Kari, and snatched a spear
from a man, and hurled it at Eyjolf, and it struck him in the waist, and
went through him, and Eyjolf then fell dead to earth.

Then there was a little lull in the battle, and then Snorri the priest
came up with his band, and Skapti was there in his company, and they ran
in between them, and so they could not get at one another to fight.

Then Hall threw in his people with theirs, and was for parting them
there and then, and so a truce was set, and was to be kept throughout
the Thing, and then the bodies were laid out and borne to the church,
and the wounds of those men were bound up who were hurt.

The day after men went to the Hill of Laws. Then Hall of the Side stood
up and asked for a hearing, and got it at once; and he spoke thus--

"Here there have been hard happenings in lawsuits and loss of life at
the Thing, and now I will show again that I am little-hearted, for I
will now ask Asgrim and the others who take the lead in these suits,
that they grant us an atonement on even terms;" and so he goes on with
many fair words.

Kari Solmund's son said--

"Though all others take an atonement in their quarrels, yet will I take
no atonement in my quarrel; for ye will wish to weigh these manslayings
against the Burning, and we cannot bear that."

In the same way spoke Thorgeir Craggeir.

Then Skapti Thorod's son stood up and said--

"Better had it been for thee, Kari, not to have run away from thy
father-in-law and thy brothers-in-law, than now to sneak out of this
atonement."

Then Kari sang these verses--

Warrior wight that weapon wieldest
Spare thy speering why we fled,
Oft for less falls hail of battle,
Forth we fled to wreak revenge;
Who was he, faint-hearted foeman,
Who, when tongues of steel sung high,
Stole beneath the booth for shelter,
While his beard blushed red for shame?

Many fetters Skapti fettered
When the men, the Gods of fight,
From the fray fared all unwilling
Where the skald scarce held his shield;
Then the suttlers dragged the lawyer
Stout in scolding to their booth,
Laid him low amongst the riffraff,
How his heart then quaked for fear.

Men who skim the main on sea stag
Well in this ye showed your sense,
Making game about the Burning,
Mocking Helgi, Grim, and Njal;
Now the moor round rocky Swinestye,[77]
As men run and shake their shields,
With another grunt shall rattle
When this Thing is past and gone.

Then there was great laughter. Snorri the priest smiled, and sang this
between his teeth, but so that many heard--

Skill hath Skapti us to tell
Whether Asgrim's shaft flew well;
Holmstein hurried swift to flight,
Thorstein turned him soon to fight.

Now men burst out in great fits of laughter.

Then Hall of the Side said--

"All men know what a grief I have suffered in the loss of my son Ljot;
many will think that he would be valued dearest of all those men who
have fallen here; but I will do this for the sake of an atonement--I
will put no price on my son, and yet will come forward and grant both
pledges and peace to those who are my adversaries. I beg thee, Snorri
the priest, and other of the best men, to bring this about, that there
may be an atonement between us."

Now he sits him down, and a great hum in his favour followed, and all
praised his gentleness and good-will.

Then Snorri the priest stood up and made a long and clever speech, and
begged Asgrim and the others who took the lead in the quarrel to look
towards an atonement.

Then Asgrim said--

"I made up my mind when Flosi made an inroad on my house that I would
never be atoned with him; but now Snorri the priest, I will take an
atonement from him for thy word's sake and other of our friends."

In the same way spoke Thorleif crow and Thorgrim the big, that they were
willing to be atoned, and they urged in every way their brother Thorgeir
Craggeir to take an atonement also; but he hung back, and says he would
never part from Kari.

Then Gizur the white said--

"Now Flosi must see that he must make his choice, whether he will be
atoned on the understanding that some will be out of the atonement."

Flosi says he will take that atonement; "and methinks it is so much the
better," he says, "that I have fewer good men and true against me".

Then Gudmund the powerful said--

"I will offer to hansel peace on my behalf for the slayings that have
happened here at the Thing, on the understanding that the suit for the
Burning is not to fall to the ground."

In the same way spoke Gizur the white and Hjallti Skeggi's son, Asgrim
Ellidagrim's son and Mord Valgard's son.

In this way the atonement came about, and then hands were shaken on it,
and twelve men were to utter the award; and Snorri the priest was the
chief man in the award, and others with him. Then the manslaughters were
set off the one against the other, and those men who were over and above
were paid for in fines. They also made an award in the suit about the
Burning.

Njal was to be atoned for with a triple fine, and Bergthora with two.
The slaying of Skarphedinn was to be set off against that of Hauskuld
the Whiteness priest. Both Grim and Helgi were to be paid for with
double fines; and one full man-fine should be paid for each of those who
had been burnt in the house.

No atonement was taken for the slaying of Thord Kari's son.

It was also in the award that Flosi and all the Burners should go abroad
into banishment, and none of them was to sail the same summer unless he
chose; but if he did not sail abroad by the time that three winters were
spent, then he and all the Burners were to become thorough outlaws. And
it was also said that their outlawry might be proclaimed either at the
Harvest-Thing or Spring-Thing, whichever men chose; and Flosi was to
stay abroad three winters.

As for Gunnar Lambi's son, and Grani Gunnar's son. Glum Hilldir's son,
and Kol Thorstein's son, they were never to be allowed to come back.

Then Flosi was asked if he would wish to have a price put upon his
wound, but he said he would not take bribes for his hurt.

Eyjolf Bolverk's son had no fine awarded for him, for his unfairness and
wrongfulness.

And now the settlement and atonement was handselled, and was well kept
afterwards.

Asgrim and his friends gave Snorri the priest good gifts, and he had
great honour from these suits.

Skapti got a fine for his hurt.

Gizur the white, and Hjallti Skeggi's son, and Asgrim Ellidagrim's son,
asked Gudmund the powerful to come and see them at home. He accepted the
bidding, and each of them gave him a gold ring.

Now Gudmund rides home north, and had praise from every man for the part
he had taken in these quarrels.

Thorgeir Craggeir asked Kari to go along with him, but yet first of all
they rode with Gudmund right up to the fells north. Kari gave Gudmund a
golden brooch, but Thorgeir gave him a silver belt, and each was the
greatest treasure. So they parted with the utmost friendship, and
Gudmund is out of this story.

Kari and Thorgeir rode south from the fell, and down to the Rapes,[78]
and so to Thurso-water.

Flosi, and the Burners along with him, rode east to Fleetlithe, and he
allowed the sons of Sigfus to settle their affairs at home. Then Flosi
heard that Thorgeir and Kari had ridden north with Gudmund the powerful,
and so the Burners thought that Kari and his friend must mean to stay in
the north country; and then the sons of Sigfus asked leave to go east
under Eyjafell to get in their money, for they had money out on call at
Headbrink. Flosi gave them leave to do that, but still bade them be ware
of themselves, and be as short a time about it as they could.

Then Flosi rode up by Godaland, and so north of Eyjafell Jokul, and did
not draw bridle before he came home east to Swinefell.

Now it must be said that Hall of the Side had suffered his son to fall
without a fine, and did that for the sake of an atonement, but then the
whole host of men at the Thing agreed to pay a fine for him, and the
money so paid was not less than eight hundred in silver, but that was
four times the price of a man; but all the others who had been with
Flosi got no fines paid for their hurts, and were very ill pleased at
it.