Skarphedin

“ At this the men’s faces grew pale, and a strange look came into their eyes, but Skarphedinn bade them be of good cheer, and to remember that, whatever might befall, all men would look to them to bear themselves bravely. ”

“ Then Skarphedinn said, "Now one can see what will come;" and then he went along the side wall. Gunnar Lambi's son leapt up on the wall and sees Skarphedinn, he spoke thus, "Weepest thou now, Skarphedinn?"
"Not so," says Skarphedinn; "but true it is that the smoke makes one's eyes smart, but is it as it seems to me, dost thou laugh?"
"So it is surely," says Gunnar, "and I have never laughed since thou slewest Thrain on Markfleet." ”

“ She sent a man to the Thing to tell Gunnar of Kol's slaying; he answered little or nothing, and sent a man to tell Njal. He too made no answer, but Skarphedinn said—
"Thralls are men of more mettle than of yore; they used to fly at each other and fight, and no one thought much harm of that; but now they will do naught but kill," and as he said this he smiled.
Njal pulled down the purse of money which hung up in the booth, and went out; his sons went with him to Gunnar's booth.
Skarphedinn said to a man who was in the doorway of the booth—
"Say thou to Gunnar that my father wants to see him." ”

“ Skarphedinn spoke again: "Thou, Hauskuld, shalt have nothing to do with it, for thou wilt often be sent about alone without due heed; but I mean Sigmund for myself; methinks that is like a man; but Grim and Helgi, they shall try to slay Skiolld." ”

“ I will leap after thee at once."
"It is bidden to every man," says Kari, "to seek to save his life while he has a choice, and I will do so now; but still this parting of ours will be in such wise that we shall never see one another more; for if I leap out of the fire, I shall have no mind to leap back into the fire to thee, and then each of us will have to fare his own way."
"It joys me, brother-in-law," says Skarphedinn, "to think that if thou gettest away thou wilt avenge me." ”

“ The psychology of the Sagas, however, brief and superficial as it may be, is yet of the sort that may be tested; the dials keep time, though the works are not exposed. It may be doubtful at any moment how Skarphedinn will act, but when his history is in progress, and when it is finished, the reader knows that Skarphedinn is rightly rendered, and furthermore that it is impossible to deal with him except as an individual character, impressing the mind through a variety of qualities and circumstances that are inexplicably consistent. It is impossible to take his character to pieces. ”

“ After that she set meat on the board, and Njal said "Wondrously now it seems to me. Methinks I see all round the room, and it seems as though the gable wall were thrown down, but the whole board and the meat on it is one gore of blood."
All thought this strange but Skarphedinn, he bade men not be downcast, nor to utter other unseemly sounds, so that men might make a story out of them.
"For it befits us surely more than other men to bear us well, and it is only what is looked for from us." ”

“ Skarphedinn cut him down by the fence. Then Hogni comes against Thorgeir and slays him with the bill.
Thence they went to Hof, and Mord was outside in the field, and begged for mercy, and offered them full atonement.
Skarphedinn told Mord the slaying of those four men, and sang a song.
Four who wielded warlike weapons
We have slain, all men of worth,
Them at once, gold-greedy fellow,
Thou shalt follow on the spot;
Let us press this pinch-purse so,
Pouring fear into his heart;
Wretch! reach out to Gunnar's son
Right to settle all disputes. ”

“ So quick and shifty in his manliness, that I would rather have his following than that of ten other men; but yet the man is unlucky-looking."
"I know," said Skarphedinn, "that thou speakest at me, but it does not go in the same way as to luck with me and thee. I have blame, indeed, from the slaying of Hauskuld, the Whiteness priest, as is fair and right; but both Thorkel foulmouth and Thorir Helgi's son spread abroad bad stories about thee, and that has tried thy temper very much." ”

“ Mord had to wife Thorkatla, Gizur the White's daughter.
They two, Mord and Flosi, rode both together to the Thing, and talked the whole day, and no man knew aught of their counsel.
117. NJAL AND SKARPHEDINN TALK TOGETHER Now, we must say how Njal said to Skarphedinn.
"What plan have ye laid down for yourselves, thou and thy brothers and Kari?"
"Little reck we of dreams in most matters," said Skarphedinn; "but if thou must know, we shall ride to Tongue to Asgrim Ellidagrim's son, and thence to the Thing; but, what meanest thou to do about thine own journey, father?" ”

“ Skarphedinn gave the shield such a quick twist, that Sigmund let go his sword. Then Skarphedinn hews at Sigmund with his axe; the "Ogress of war." Sigmund had on a corselet, the axe came on his shoulder. Skarphedinn cleft the shoulder-blade right through, and at the same time pulled the axe towards him. Sigmund fell down on both knees, but sprang up again at once.
"Thou hast lilted low to me already," says Skarphedinn, "but still thou shalt fall upon thy mother's bosom ere we two part." ”

“ Then Thorkel sprang up in mickle wrath, and clutched his short sword and said, "This sword I got in Sweden when I slew the greatest champion, but since then I have slain many a man with it, and as soon as ever I reach thee I will drive it through thee, and thou shalt take that for thy bitter words."
Skarphedinn stood with his axe aloft, and smiled scornfully and said, "This axe I had in my hand when I leapt twelve ells across Markfleet and slew Thrain Sigfus' son, and eight of them stood before me, and none of them could touch me. Never have I aimed weapon at man that I have not smitten him." ”

“ 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 ”

“ All to slay a single man;
When shall we our hands uplift?
We who brandish burnished steel—
Famous men erst reddened weapons,
When? if now we quiet sit?
"Yes! when shall the day come when we shall lift our hands?" [Pg 76]
"That will not be long off," says Njal, "and then thou shalt not be baulked; but still, methinks, I set great store on your not breaking this peace that I have made."
"Then we will not break it," says Skarphedinn, "but if anything arises between us, then we will bear in mind the old feud."
"Then I will ask you to spare no one," says Njal. ”

“ As it was getting dark they heard footsteps approaching, for the men with Flosi had tethered their169 horses in a dell not far from the house, and had waited there till sundown. Nial said to his sons: “A great body of men seems to be approaching, but they have made a halt beyond the house. I think they are more in number than ourselves, and that it would be better for us to go inside the house and fight them from there; the house is strong, and they will be slow to come to close quarters.”
Skarphedinn did not think well of that. “These men,” he said, “are come out for no fair fight ”

“ Skarphedinn thought it a pity to waste the vetch, so he said: “If it is our doom to die by fire, something else will be found to light the fire with even though the stack be not here. No man can escape his fate.” The whole summer the old woman was muttering about the vetch-stack, but time went on and nothing was done. ”

“ It has not had time, except in some rare instances, to bring them into play in daily life. Even in heathen times such a deed as that by which Njal met his death, to hem a man in within his house and then to burn it and him together, to choke a freeman, as Skarphedinn says, like a fox in his earth, was quite against the free and open nature of the race ”

“ Then Flosi would neither give nor take peace, and he said to the sons of Sigfus, "Go we now home; one fate shall befall us all."
Then they went home to their booth, and Hall said, "Here most unlucky men have a share in this suit."
Njal and his sons went home to their booth, and Njal said, "Now comes to pass what my heart told me long ago, that this suit would fall heavy on us."
"Not so," says Skarphedinn; "they can never pursue us by the laws of the land." ”

“ So wilt thou be able to avenge thyself on Skarphedinn for that he took thy money from thee after Gunnar's death; and in this wise, further on, thou wilt be able to seize the leadership when they are all dead and gone."
This plan they settled between them should be brought to pass; and Mord said—
"I would, father, that thou wouldst take on thee the new faith. Thou art an old man." ”

“ Sigmund took up his weapons, but Skarphedinn waited the while. Skiolld turned against Grim and Helgi, and they fell hotly to fight. Sigmund had a helm on his head, and a shield at his side, and was girt with a sword, his spear was in his hand; now he turns against Skarphedinn, and thrusts at once at him with his spear, and the thrust came on his shield. Skarphedinn dashes the spearhaft in two, and lifts up his axe and hews at Sigmund, and cleaves his shield down to below the handle. Sigmund drew his sword and cut at Skarphedinn, and the sword cuts into his shield, so that it stuck fast. ”

“ Thrain and his men take their stand upon the ice away from the tongue, and Thrain said—
"What can these men want? They are five, and we are eight."
"I guess," said Lambi Sigurd's son, "that they would still run the risk though more men stood against them."
Thrain throws off his cloak, and takes off his helm.
Now it happened to Skarphedinn, as they ran down along the Fleet, that his shoe-string snapped asunder, and he stayed behind.
"Why so slow, Skarphedinn?" quoth Grim.
"I am tying my shoe," he says.
"Let us get on ahead," says Kari; "methinks he will not be slower than we." ”

“ The essence of the tragic situation lies in this, that [Pg 191] the good man is in the wrong, and his adversary in the right. The third part is required to restore the balance, in order that the original wrong, Skarphedinn's slaughter of the priest of Whiteness, should not be thought to be avoided in the death of its author. Njála is a work of large scale and liberal design; the beauty of all which, in the story, is that it allows time for the characters to assert themselves and claim their own, as they could not do in a shorter story, where they would be whirled along by the plot. ”

“ King Haldor and his companions at once ran their ships on the beach near the mouth of the river, and, landing, drew them up, intending to fight on shore. Skarpedin did not try to prevent this, for he was a bold man, and thought that with so large a force he could well manage to beat the Northmen, if they would fight on level ground. He therefore drew up his men in order of battle at one end of the plain, and Haldor the Fierce, to whom was assigned the chief command, drew up the Northmen at the other end. ”

“ Most of the chief men on both sides were armed in a similar way, though not quite so richly, and with various modifications; for instance, the helmet of Thorvold was of plain steel, and for ornament had the tail of the ptarmigan as its crest. Skarpedin’s, on the other hand, was quite plain, but partly gilded; his armour was of pieces of steel like fish scales sewed on a leathern shirt, and over his shoulders he wore as a mantle the skin of a wolf. His chief weapon was a bill—a sort of hook or short scythe fixed to a pole, and it was very deadly in his hands. ”

“ He looked the picture of robust health, happiness and sincerity, but never like Joseph Skarbek. Soldiering with men whose education and upbringing was ruder than his had rubbed the artificiality off him, leaving the old type of virile, keen, sincere Skarbeks who had fought their way through the country's history. ”

“ He looked at Nielson. "Remind me to black that other eye of yours one of these days."
"What?" said Hargraves. "What's this?"
"Our pal Nielson," Sarkoff said. "If you think before you act, he acts before he thinks. You had no sooner gone chasing off to see if I was really where you had buried me, which was what I thought you would do, until Nielson comes poking into where Ron Val and I were holding a conference. Nielson had a gun. He had it out ready to use. He figured the only safe thing to do was to shoot me. So," Sarkoff shrugged, "I had to smack him. ”

“ Then they went inside the booth.
Skapti sate on the cross-bench, and greeted Asgrim, and he took the greeting well.
Skapti offered Asgrim a seat by his side, but Asgrim said he should only stay there a little while, "But still we have an errand to thee."
"Let me hear it?" says Skapti.
"I wish to beg thee for thy help, that thou wilt stand by us in our suit."
"One thing I had hoped," says Skapti, "and that is, that neither you nor your troubles would ever come into my dwelling."
"Such things are ill-spoken," says Asgrim, "when a man is the last to help others, when most lies on his aid." ”

“ With that, she slipped off her horse and put her arms around Hallvard’s neck and kissed him; and thereafter their love ran smoothly enough.
And now all that is left to tell is how Skapti came down to the shore and began to scold Jofried, and she answered in this way:
“No more of the blame for this lies on me than on you; for it is proved by this that though you know much of men’s weaknesses, you know nothing at all about the strong parts of their natures. ”