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Page 37
"I want some good counsel from you," said Thorhall.
"I am little fit to give you counsel," he replied; "but what is
it that you need?"
"It is this: I have great difficulty in keeping my shepherds.
Some get injured and others cannot finish their work. No one
will come to me if he knows what he has to expect."
Skapti answered: "There must be some evil spirit abroad if men
are less willing to tend your flocks than those of other men.
Now since you have come to me for counsel, I will get you a
shepherd. His name is Glam, and he came from Sylgsdale in Sweden
last summer. He is a big strong man, but not to everybody's
mind."
Thorhall said that did not matter so long as he looked after the
sheep properly. Skapti said there was not much chance of getting
another if this man with all his strength and boldness should
fail. Then Thorhall departed. This happened towards the end of
the Thing.
Two of Thorhall's horses were missing, and he went himself to
look for them, which made people think he was not much of a man.
He went up under Sledaass and south along the hill called
Armannsfell. Then he saw a man coming down from Godaskog
bringing some brushwood with a horse. They met and Thorhall
asked him his name. He said it was Glam. He was a big man with
an extraordinary expression of countenance, large grey eyes and
wolfgrey hair. Thorhall was a little startled when he saw him,
but soon found out that this was the man who had been sent to
him.
"What work can you do best?" he asked.
Glam said it would suit him very well to mind sheep in the
winter.
"Will you mind my sheep?" Thorhall asked. "Skapti has given you
over to me."
"My service will only be of use to you if I am free to do as I
please," he said. "I am rather crossgrained when I am not well
pleased."
"That will not hurt me," said Thorhall. "I shall be glad if you
will come to me."
"I can do so," he said. "Are there any special difficulties?"
"The place seems to be haunted."
"I am not afraid of ghosts. It will be the less dull."
"You will have to risk it," said Thorhall. "It will be best to
meet it with a bold face."
Terms were arranged and Glam was to come in the autumn. Then
they parted. Thorhall found his horses in the very place where
he had just been looking for them. He rode home and thanked
Skapti for his service.
The summer passed. Thorhall heard nothing of his shepherd and no
one knew anything about him, but at the appointed time he
appeared at Thorhallsstad. Thorhall treated him kindly, but all
the rest of the household disliked him, especially the mistress.
He commenced his work as shepherd, which gave him little trouble.
He had a loud hoarse voice. The beasts all flocked together
whenever he shouted at them. There was a church in the place,
but Glam never went to it. He abstained from mass, had no
religion, and was stubborn and surly. Every one hated him.
So the time passed till the eve of Yule-tide. Glam rose early
and called for his meal. The mistress said: "It is not proper
for Christian men to eat on this day, because to-morrow is
the first day of Yule and it is our duty to fast to-day."
"You have many superstitions," he said; "but I do not see that
much comes of them. I do not know that men are any better off
than when there was nothing of that kind. The ways of men seemed
to me better when they were called heathen. I want my food and
no foolery."
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