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Page 46
There arose an uproar in the church; people told the king that
the man who had come to purge himself was fighting with those
around him. King Olaf came forward into the church to see what
was going on, and said:
"You are a man of ill luck, Grettir. All was prepared for the
ordeal, but it cannot take place now. It is not possible to
contend against your ill-fortune."
Grettir said: "I expected, oh king, more honour from you for the
sake of my family than I now seem likely to obtain."
Then he told again the story as he had done before of what had
taken place with the men. "Gladly," he said, "would I enter your
service; there is many a man with you who is not my better as a
warrior."
"I know," said the king, "that few are your equals in strength
and courage, but your luck is too bad for you to remain with me.
You have my leave to depart in peace whithersoever you will for
the winter, and then in the summer you may return to Iceland,
where you are destined to lay your bones."
"First I should like to clear myself of the charge of burning, if
I may," said Grettir; "for I did not do it intentionally."
"Very likely it is so," said the king; "but since the purgation
has come to naught through your impatience you cannot clear
yourself further than you have done. Impetuosity always leads to
evil. If ever a man was doomed to misfortune you are."
After that Grettir remained for a time in the town, but he got
nothing more out of Olaf. Then he went to the South, intending
after that to go East to Tunsberg to find his brother Thorsteinn
Dromund. Nothing is told of his journey till he came to Jadar.
CHAPTER XL
ADVENTURE WITH THE BERSERK SNAEKOLL
At Yule Grettir came to a bondi named Einar, a man of wealth who
had a wife and a marriageable daughter named Gyrid. She was a
beautiful maiden and was considered an excellent match. Einar
invited Grettir to stay over Yule, and he accepted.
It was no uncommon thing throughout Norway that robbers and other
ruffians came down from the forest and challenged men to fight
for their women, or carried off their property with violence if
there was not sufficient force in the house to protect them. One
day at Yule-tide there came a whole party of these miscreants to
Einar's house. Their leader was a great berserk named Snaekoll.
He challenged Einar to hand over his daughter to him or else to
defend her, if he felt himself man enough to do so. Now the
bondi was no longer young, and no fighter. He felt that he was
in a great difficulty, and asked Grettir privately what help he
would give him, seeing that he was held to be so famous a man.
Grettir advised him to consent only to what was not dishonourable.
The berserk was sitting on his horse wearing his helmet, the
chin-piece of which was not fastened. He held before him a shield
bound with iron and looked terribly threatening. He said to the
bondi:
"You had better choose quickly: either one thing or the other.
What does that big fellow standing beside you say? Would he not
like to play with me himself?"
"One of us is as good as the other," said Grettir, "neither of us
is very active."
"All the more afraid will you be to fight with me if I get
angry."
"That will be seen when it is tried," said Grettir.
The berserk thought they were trying to get off by talking. He
began to howl and to bite the rim of his shield. He held the
shield up to his mouth and scowled over its upper edge like a
madman. Grettir stepped quickly across the ground, and when he
got even with the berserk's horse he kicked the shield with his
foot from below with such force that it struck his mouth,
breaking the upper jaw, and the lower jaw fell down on to his
chest. With the same movement he seized the viking's helmet with
his left hand and dragged him from his horse, while with
his right hand he raised his axe and cut off the berserk's head.
Snaekoll's followers when they saw what had happened fled, every
man of them. Grettir did not care to pursue them for he saw that
there was no heart in them. The bondi thanked him for what he
had done, as did many other men, for the quickness and boldness
of his deed had impressed them much. Grettir stayed there for
Yule and was well taken care of till he left, when the bondi
dismissed him handsomely. Then Grettir went East to Tunsberg to
visit his brother Thorsteinn, who received him joyfully and asked
him about his adventures. Grettir told him how he had killed the
berserk, and composed a verse:
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