Flosi

“ Then Flosi gave away his brother's daughter Hildigunna, whom Hauskuld the priest of Whiteness had had to wife, to Kari, and they dwelt first of all at Broadwater.
Men say that the end of Flosi's life was, that he fared abroad, when he had grown old, to seek for timber to build him a hall; and he was in Norway that winter, but the next summer he was late "boun"; and men told him that his ship was not seaworthy. ”

“ Then Flosi sent after Kolbein Egil's son, his brother's son, and he came to him there. Thence he rode to Headbrink. There dwelt Thorgrim the Showy, the son of Thorkel the Fair. Flosi begged him to ride to the Althing with him, and he said yea to the journey, and spoke thus to Flosi, "Often hast thou been more glad, master, than thou art now, but thou hast some right to be so."
"Of a truth," said Flosi, "that hath now come on my hands, which I would give all my goods that it had never happened. Ill seed has been sown, and so an ill crop will spring from it." ”

“ Then Flosi said—
"There is no need beating about the bush as to what we have in mind. We wish to ask for thy help, Eyjolf, and that thou wilt stand by us in our suits, and go to the court with us, and undertake the defence, if there be any, and plead it for us, and stand by us in all things that may happen at this Thing." ”

“ Hall thanked them kindly for their gifts, and rode away with the greatest honour. He did not draw bridle till he came to Swinefell, and Flosi gave him a hearty welcome. Hall told Flosi all about his errand and the talk he had with Thorgeir, and also that Thorgeir would not take the atonement till Kari told him he would quarrel with him if he did not take it; but that Kari would take no atonement.
"There are few men like Kari," said Flosi, "and I would that my mind were shapen altogether like his." ”

“ Ye are grasping and wrongful at home in your own country, and ye will not help men at the Thing, though they need it. No doubt you will be held up to reproach at the Thing, and very great blame will be laid on you if ye bear not in mind that scorn and those biting words which Skarphedinn hurled at you men of Lightwater."
But on the other hand, Flosi dealt secretly with them, and bade them money for their help, and so coaxed them over with fair words, until it came about that they promised him their aid, and then became so steadfast that they said they would fight for Flosi, if need were. ”

“ Flosi and his band stayed by the fire until it was broad daylight; then came a man riding up to them. Flosi asked him for his name, but he said his name was Geirmund, and that he was a kinsman of the sons of Sigfus.
"Ye have done a mighty deed," he says.
"Men," said Flosi, "will call it both a mighty deed and an ill deed, but that can't be helped now."
"How many men have lost their lives here?" asks Geirmund.
"Here have died," says Flosi, "Njal and Bergthora and all their sons, Thord Kari's son, Kari Solmund's son, but besides these we cannot say for a surety, because we know not their names." ”

“ The women inside began to weep and to scream with fear, but Nial sustained them all, saying that it was but a passing storm, and that it was long before they were like to have another such. Then he went to the door, and called out to Flosi, asking him whether he would be content to take an atonement for his sons.
Flosi replied that he would take none. “Here I remain,” said he, “until all of them are dead; but the women and children and slaves may go out.” Then Nial returned into the house, and bade the women go out, and all to whom leave was given. ”

“ Now it is to be told of Flosi that he sent to his kin in Ingolfs-firth and Ufeigh's-firth, and for Olaf Eyvindson, who then dwelt at Drangar; and Flosi came first to the whale, with the men of Wick, then they fell to cutting up the whale, and what was cut was forthwith sent ashore; near twenty men were thereat at first, but soon folk came thronging thither. ”

“ In the Njáls Saga, Flosi has to take up the feud for the slain Hauskuld. Flosi is a moderate and reasonable man, so the first thing he does is to enquire into the circumstances under which Hauskuld was slain. Flosi finds that the circumstances, and the outrageous conduct of the slayers, give him no choice {281}but to prosecute the feud. So in the end he burns Njal's hall, and in it the child of Kari.
Now to have burned a man's child to death might well seem a deed impossible of atonement. ”

“ Then Bjarni said to Flosi—
"Well done! well done! Thou art a mighty chief, and a bold outspoken man, and reckest little what thou sayest to men."
After that they fared away west across the river, and so to the Hladbooth. They saw many men outside before the booth. There was one man who had a scarlet cloak over his shoulders, and a gold band round his head, and an axe studded with silver in his hand.
"This is just right," said Bjarni, "here now is the man I spoke of, Eyjolf Bolverk's son, if thou wilt see him, Flosi." ”

“ At last Flosi called to his men to let be, till the fire had its way, for many had been killed and wounded already.
And now a beam which held up the oak fell in, and then another and another. ‘Surely my father must be dead,’ said Skarphedinn, ‘that he makes no sound,’ and, followed by Grim and Kari, he went to the end of the hall where a cross beam had fallen.
‘The smoke is thick here,’ said Kari, ‘thick enough to hide a man; let us leap out one by one, and we shall be away before they have seen us. ”

“ Then Kettle of the Mark answered, "If the choice is to be left with us brothers, then we will soon choose that this duty should fall on thee; there are many things which lead to this. Thou art a man of great birth, and a mighty chief, stout of heart, and strong of body, and wise withal, and so we think it best that thou shouldst see to all that is needful in the quarrel."
"It is most fitting," said Flosi, "that I should agree to undertake this as your prayer asks ”

“ Wrought not this foul deed, their glory,
Save with footsteps filled with gore.
"Can Skarphedinn, think ye, have sung this song dead or alive?" said Grani Gunnar's son.
"I will go into no guesses about that," says Flosi.
"We will look for Skarphedinn," says Grani, "and the other men who have been here burnt inside the house." [Pg 244]
"That shall not be," says Flosi, "it is just like such foolish men as thou art, now that men will be gathering force all over the country; and when they do come, I trow the very same man who now lingers will be so scared that he will not know which way to run ”

“ There was Hall of the Side, and all the Eastfirthers. Flosi greeted them well, and told them of his journeys and dealings with Asgrim. Many praised him for that, and said such things were bravely done.
Then Hall said, "I look on this in another way than ye do, for methinks it was a foolish prank — they were sure to bear in mind their griefs, even though they were not reminded of them anew; but those men who try others so heavily must look for all evil." ”

“ Flosi said: ‘I will offer thee to go out, Njál bóndi, for thou deservest not to be burnt.’ Njál said: ‘I will not go out, for I am an old man, and little able to avenge my sons, but I will not live with shame.’ Flosi said to Bergthóra: ‘Go out, housewife, for I will by no means burn thee.’ Bergthóra answered: ‘I was young when I married Njál, and I have promised him to let the same overtake us both.’ Then they both went in. Bergthóra said: ‘What shall we now do?’ ‘We will go to our bed,’ said Njál, ‘and lie down. ”

“ So Flosi was made Earl Sigurd's henchman, and he soon won his way to great love with the Earl.
CHAPTER CLIII. KARI GOES ABROAD.
Those messmates Kari and Kolbein the black put out to sea from Eyrar half a month later than Flosi and his companions from Hornfirth.
They got a fine fair wind, and were but a short time out. The first land they made was the Fair Isle; it lies between Shetland and the Orkneys. There that man whose name was David the white took Kari into his house, and he told him all that he had heard for certain about the doings of the Burners. ”

“ 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 [Pg 295] 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. ”

“ Flosi was up on the foreshore when he saw that, and he egged on his men to meet them hardily; now they fought long together, but those of Coldback had the best of it: few men there had weapons except the axes wherewith they were cutting up the whale, and some choppers. So the men of Wick gave back to the foreshores; the Eastmen had weapons, and many a wound they gave; Stein, the captain, smote a foot off Ivar Kolbeinson, but Leif, Ivar's brother, beat to death a fellow of Stein's with a whale-rib; blows were dealt there with whatever could be caught at, and men fell on either side. ”

“ Ye shall ride to Mord Valgard's son's house, and tell him this message from me, that he shall take up the suit for manslaughter for Helgi Njal's son against Flosi. But if he utters any words against this, then shalt thou make thy self most wrathful, and make believe as though thou wouldst let thy axe fall on his head; and in the second place, thou shalt assure him of my wrath if he shows any ill will. Along with that shalt thou say, that I will send and fetch away my daughter Thorkatla, and make her come home to me; but that he will not abide, for he loves her as the very eyes in his head. ”

“ It was almost mechanical labour, and for that Flossie had more than a taste, she had a positive genius. It was mechanical labour idealized and reduced to a fine art, an art in which the personality of the artist counted. The work displayed to perfection the prettiness of Flossie's hands, from the rapid play of her fingers in sifting, and their little fluttering, hovering movements in arranging, to the exquisitely soft touches of the palms when she gathered all her sheaves of notes into one sheaf, shaking, caressing, coaxing the rough edges into line. ”

“ She had no cause to love men, but, by some strange alchemy of her nature, her heart went out to women,--to women whom she had less cause to love. And her heart went out to Flossie, even then travelling the Long Trail and facing into the bitter North to meet a man who might not wait for her. A shrinking, clinging sort of a girl, Freda pictured her, with weak mouth and pretty pouting lips, blow-away sun-kissed hair, and eyes full of the merry shallows and the lesser joys of life. But she also pictured Flossie, face nose-strapped and frost- rimed, stumbling wearily behind the dogs. ”

“ It is true the money would not be hers; it would be Nesta’s; but Nesta, with all her faults, was generous enough, and Flossie felt that once she had the money and was away with her friend at the seaside they could really have a good time. Flossie was very fond of her food, and she imagined how the money could be spent on little treats—shrimps or doughnuts, and whatever fruit was in season. They could have endless little picnics all to themselves on the sands. ”

“ Poor Flossie! she does amount to much, after all, in all America; and is angrily conscious of it.
And now comes in our hero, Arthur Holyoke; no one, even Von Hillersdorf, is more perfect a man of the world than he. Well he places his bow and smile, his outspoken compliment here, his whispered word of adoration there; his coat is as well cut as Jimmy De Witt’s, who has also come, some time later than his bride. But no one of these is earnest, thinks Flossie, and is bored again, and glad when they all go, and Mr. Killian Van Kull appears. Here at last is her peer, one who can understand her. ”

“ It will bring the color back to her pale cheeks—will it not, you kind, sympathetic old dear!"
Flossy's white hand was laid caressingly on the General's arm. The old soldier rose to the bait. He raised it at once to his mouth, and kissed it as devoutly as ever he had saluted the hand of his Queen.
"My dear," he said, "you are always right; you are a wonderful woman—so clever, so beautiful, so good!" Did she not shiver as she heard the words? "I will leave it in your hands—you know how to manage every one!"
"Dear Richard," said Flossy, with a faint smile, "all that I do is for your sake." ”

“ Nesta, however, had no special duties that afternoon, and Marcia repeated Flossie’s message that they were to meet in the middle of the wood.
“Don’t be too long away,” she said, “but if you greatly wish to go to have tea with the Griffiths, why you may. I understood from Flossie that they were going to the seaside on Saturday.”
“Thank you, Marcia,” said Nesta.
She ran out of the room. Dress was indeed a matter of total indifference to her. Once again, she flew down the path, entered the wood, and in a very short time she and Flossie were embracing each other. Flossie was smartly dressed. ”

“ But you will, Flossie?"
As he drew her to him a second time the old terror woke in his heart; but only for a moment. For this time Flossie kissed him of her own accord, with a kiss, not passionate like his own, but sweet and fugitive. It was like a reminder of the transience of the thing he sought, a challenge rousing him to assert its immortality.
He put her from him, and stooped over his own outstretched arms and clasped hands; staring stupidly at the floor. When he spoke again it was hardly, incisively, as a man speaks the truth he hates. "Do you know what this means? It means waiting." ”

“ Flossie declared, fearing, with the old clinging to ungraciousness that sulky people have, that her last reply had sounded too much like coming round, a concession which Flossie never made too soon or made too cheap.
"Nougât?" said May, putting the caramels on one side.
"You know I can't eat nougât; it always makes my teeth ache!" Flossie cried.
"Fondants?" May knew that her sister was passionately fond of that form of sweetmeats. But Flossie would have none of it. ”