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CONTENTS

Njal's saga (13th cent.)

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Author: Anonymous
Year: n.a.

(Skarp-Hedin kills Thrain)

They headed for the river. At that time it was flowing between banks of ice. Downstream, they could see an ice-floe spanning the river-channel, and they decided to cross there. Thrain and his men took up position on the sheet-ice opposite this bridge.

It so happened that Skarp-Hedin's shoe-thong broke as they ran down along the river, and he stopped.

"What keeps you back, Skarp-Hedin?" asked Grim.

"I am tying up my shoe," he replied.

"We'll go on ahead," said Kari. "I do not think he will be slower than we."

They turned down towards the ice-bridge, running as fast as they could. Skarp-Hedin jumped up as soon as he had tied his shoe, and hoisted his axe. He raced down straight towards the river, which was much too deep to be forded anywhere along that stretch. A huge sheet of ice had formed a low hump on the other side of the channel. It was as smooth as glass, and Thrain and his men had stopped on the middle of this hump. Skarp-Hedin made a leap and cleared the channel between the ice-banks, steadied himself, and at once went into a slide: the ice was glassy-smooth, and he skimmed along as fast as a bird.

Thrain was then about to put on his helmet. Skarp-Hedin came swooping down on him and swung at him with his axe. The axe crashed down on his head and split it down to the jaw-bone, spilling the back teeth on to the ice. It all happened so quickly that no one had time to land a blow on Skarp-Hedin as he skimmed past at great speed. Tjorvi threw a shield into his path, but Skarp-Hedin cleared it with a jump without losing his balance and slid to the other end of the sheet-ice.

Kari and the others came running up.

"That was man's work," said Kari.

"Now it's your turn," said Skarp-Hedin.





Tr. Magnusson and Pálsson, 1960.

(Skarp-Hedin's makes his last stand in his family's burning house:)

Gunnar Lambason jumped up on to the wall and saw Skarp-Hedin. "Are you crying now, Skarp-Hedin?" he asked. "No," said Skarp-Hedin, "but it is true that my eyes are smarting. Am I right in thinking that you are laughing?" "I certainly am," said Gunnar, "and for the first time since you killed Thrain." "Then here is something to remind you of it," said Skarp-Hedin.

He took from his purse the jaw-tooth he had hacked out of Thrain, and hurled it straight at Gunnar's eye; the eye was gouged from its socket on to the cheek, and Gunnar toppled off the wall.

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