The story of Burnt Njal From the Icelandic of the Njals Saga

CHAPTER LVIII.

HOW GUN­NAR'S HORSE FOUGHT.

Just then Gun­nar heard of the death of his fa­ther-​in-​law Hauskuld; a few nights af­ter, Thorg­er­da, Thrain's wife, was de­liv­ered at Grit­wa­ter, and gave birth to a boy child. Then she sent a man to her moth­er, and bade her choose whether it should be called Glum or Hauskuld. She bade call it Hauskuld. So that name was giv­en to the boy.

Gun­nar and Hall­ger­da had two sons, the one's name was Hog­ni and the oth­er's Grani. Hog­ni was a brave man of few words, dis­trust­ful and slow to be­lieve, but truth­ful.

Now men ride to the horse-​fight, and a very great crowd is gath­ered to­geth­er there. Gun­nar was there and his broth­ers, and the sons of Sig­fus. Njal and all his sons. There too was come Starkad and his sons, and Egil and his sons, and they said to Gun­nar that now they would lead the hors­es to­geth­er.

Gun­ner said, “That was well”.

Skarphedinn said, “Wilt thou that I drive thy horse, kins­man Gun­nar?”

“I will not have that,” says Gun­nar.

“It wouldn't be amiss though,” says Skarphedinn; “we are hot-​head­ed on both sides.”

“Ye would say or do lit­tle,” says Gun­nar, “be­fore a quar­rel would spring up; but with me it will take longer, though it will be all the same in the end.”

Af­ter that the hors­es were led to­geth­er; Gun­nar busked him to drive his horse, but Skarphedinn led him out. Gun­nar was in a red kir­tle, and had about his loins a broad belt, and a great rid­ing-​rod in his hand.

Then the hors­es run at one an­oth­er, and bit each oth­er long, so that there was no need for any one to touch them, and that was the great­est sport.

Then Thorgeir and Kol made up their minds that they would push their horse for­ward just as the hors­es rushed to­geth­er, and see if Gun­nar would fall be­fore him.

Now the hors­es ran at one an­oth­er again, and both Thorgeir and Kol ran along­side their horse's flank.

Gun­nar push­es his horse against them, and what hap­pened in a trice was this, that Thorgeir and his broth­er fall down flat on their backs, and their horse a-​top of them.

Then they spring up and rush at Gun­nar, Gun­nar swings him­self free and seizes Kol, casts him down on the field, so that he lies sense­less, Thorgeir Starkad's son smote Gun­nar's horse such a blow that one of his eyes start­ed out. Gun­nar smote Thorgeir with his rid­ing-​rod, and down falls Thorgeir sense­less; but Gun­nar goes to his horse, and said to Kolskegg, “Cut off the horse's head; he shall not live a maimed and blem­ished beast”.

So Kolskegg cut the head off the horse.

Then Thorgeir got on his feet and took his weapons, and want­ed to fly at Gun­nar, but that was stopped, and there was a great throng and crush.

Skarphedinn said, “This crowd wea­ries me, and it is far more man­ly that men should fight it out with weapons”; and so he sang a song,--

At the Thing there is a throng; Past all bounds the crowd­ing comes; Hard 'twill be to patch up peace 'Twixt the men: this wea­ries me; Wor­thi­er is it far for men Weapons red with gore to stain; I for one would soon­er tame Hunger huge of cub of wolf.

Gun­nar was still, so that one man held him, and spoke no ill words.

Njal tried to bring about a set­tle­ment, or to get pledges of peace; but Thorgeir said he would nei­ther give nor take peace; far rather, he said, would he see Gun­nar dead for the blow.

Kolskegg said, “Gun­nar has be­fore now stood too fast than that he should have fall­en for words alone, and so it will be again”.

Now men ride away from the horse-​field, ev­ery one to his home. They make no at­tack on Gun­nar, and so that half-​year passed away. At the Thing, the sum­mer af­ter, Gun­nar met Olaf the pea­cock, his cousin, and he asked him to come and see him, but yet bade him be­ware of him­self; “For,” says he, “they will do us all the harm they can, and mind and fare al­ways with many men at thy back”.

He gave him much good coun­sel be­side, and they agreed that there should be the great­est friend­ship be­tween them.