Njal's Saga (Penguin Classics) by Leifur Eiricksson & Robert Cook

Author:Leifur Eiricksson & Robert Cook [Eiricksson, Leifur & Cook, Robert]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
Published: 2006-03-30T04:00:00+00:00

98

There was a man called Lyting, who lived at Samsstadir. He was married to a woman named Steinvor Sigfussdottir, Thrain’s sister. Lyting was a big, strong man, prosperous but vicious to deal with.

One day it happened that Lyting had a feast at Samsstadir. He had invited Hoskuld and the Sigfussons, and they all came. Grani Gunnarsson and Gunnar Lambason and Lambi Sigurdarson were also there.

Hoskuld Njalsson1 and his mother Hrodny had a farm at Holt, and Hoskuld often rode there from Bergthorshvol and passed by the farm at Samsstadir. Hoskuld had a son called Amundi, who had been born blind. He was none the less big and powerful.

Lyting had two brothers, one named Hallstein and the other Hallgrim. They were the worst troublemakers and always lived with their brother because no one else could stand them.

Lyting was mostly outdoors on the day of the feast, but went inside now and then. When he took his seat, a woman who had been outdoors came in.

She spoke: ‘It’s too bad you were not outside when the show-off rode past the farm.’

‘Who’s this show-off you’re talking about?’ asked Lyting.

‘Hoskuld Njalsson,’ she said, ‘has just ridden past the farm.’

Lyting spoke: ‘He often rides past, and not without annoyance to me, and I’ll offer to go with you, Hoskuld, if you want to avenge your father and kill Hoskuld Njalsson.’

‘I don’t want that,’ said Hoskuld, ‘for then I would be repaying my foster-father far worse than he deserves. May no luck come to you and your feast!’ – and he jumped up from the table and called for his horses and rode home.

Then Lyting spoke to Grani Gunnarsson: ‘You were there when Thrain was slain, and it must be fresh in your mind, and you too, Gunnar Lambason and Lambi Sigurdarson. I want us to ride out to meet him and kill him this evening when he rides home.’

‘No,’ said Grani, ‘I will not attack the Njalssons and break a settlement which good men have made.’

Gunnar and Lambi spoke similar words, and so did the Sigfussons, and they all decided to ride away. When they were gone, Lyting said, ‘Everyone knows that I have not received compensation for my brother-in-law Thrain,2 and I’ll never be content until there is blood revenge.’

Then he called together his two brothers and three servants for the trip. They went to where Hoskuld would be coming and lay in ambush in a hollow north of the farm and waited there until six in the evening. Then Hoskuld came riding towards them. They all sprang up with their weapons and attacked him. Hoskuld defended himself so bravely that for a long time they made no headway. As time went on he wounded Lyting on the arm and killed two of his servants and then was slain. They had given him sixteen wounds, but did not cut off his head. They went into the woods east of the Ranga river and hid there.

That evening Hrodny’s shepherd found Hoskuld’s body and went home and told her of the slaying of her son.

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