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Page 5
Onund said he would like it, and soon afterwards Ofeig was
approached on the subject. He received the proposal favourably,
saying he knew the man to be of good lineage and to have some
wealth in movable property, though his lands were not worth
much. "But," he said, "I do not think he is very wise. Why,
my daughter is quite a child."
Thrand said that Onund was more vigorous than many a man whose
legs were sounder.
So with the aid of Thrand the terms were settled. Ofeig was to
give his daughter a portion in cash, for neither would reckon
anything for his lands in Norway. Soon afterwards Thrand was
betrothed to the daughter of Thormod Shaft. Both the maids were
to remain plighted for three years.
Then they went on fighting expeditions in the summer, remaining
in the Barra Isles during the winter.
CHAPTER IV
FIGHT WITH VIKINGS VIGBJOD AND VESTMAR
There were two Vikings from the Southern Isles, named Vigbjod and
Vestmar; they were abroad both summer and winter. They had eight
ships, and harried mostly round the coast of Ireland, where they
did many an evil deed until Eyvind undertook the defence of the
coast, when they retired to the Hebrides to harry there, and
right in to the Scotch firths. Thrand and Onund went out against
them and learned that they had sailed to an island called Bot.
Onund and Thrand followed them thither with five ships, and when
the vikings sighted them and saw how many there were, they
thought their own force was sufficient, so they took to their
arms and advanced to the attack. Onund ordered his ships to take
up a position between two rocks where there was a deep but narrow
channel, open to attack from one side only, and by not more than
five ships at once. Onund was a very wily man. He sent his five
ships forward into the channel so that, as there was plenty of
sea room behind them, they could easily retire by merely backing
their oars. One ship he brought under an island lying on their
beam, and carried a great stone to a place on the front of the
rock where it could not be seen from the enemy's ships. The
Vikings came boldly on, thinking they had caught them in a trap.
Vigbjod asked who they were that he had hemmed in. Thrand
answered that he was a brother of Eyvind the Easterner, and the
man with him was his comrade, Onund Treefoot. The vikings
laughed and said:
"Trolls take the rascal Treefoot
and lay him even with the ground.
Never yet did I see men go to battle who could not carry
themselves."
Onund said that could not be known until it was tried. Then the
ships came together. There was a great battle in which both
sides fought bravely. When the battle was thick Onund ordered
his ships to back their oars. The vikings seeing it thought they
were taking to flight, and pushed on with all their might, coming
under the rock just at the moment when the party which had been
dispatched for that purpose arrived. They launched upon the
vikings stones so huge that nothing could hold against them. A
number of the vikings were killed, and others were so injured
that they could fight no more. Then the vikings tried to escape,
but could not, as their ships were in the narrowest part of the
channel and were impeded both by the current and by the enemy's
ships. Onund's men vigorously attacked the wing commanded by
Vigbjod while Thrand engaged Vestmar, but effected little. When
the men on Vigbjod's ship had been somewhat reduced, Onund's men,
he himself with them, prepared to board her. On seeing that,
Vigbjod spurred on his men resolutely. He turned against Onund,
most of whose men gave way. Onund was a man of immense strength
and he bade his followers observe how it fared with them. They
shoved a log under the stump of his leg, so that he stood pretty
firm. The viking dashed forward, reached Onund and hewed at him
with his sword, which cut right through his shield and into the
log beneath his leg, where it remained fixed. As Vigbjod bent
down to pull his sword clear again, Onund dealt him a blow on his
shoulder, severing his arm and disabling him. When Vestmar saw
his comrade fall, he sprang on to the outermost ship and escaped
along with all who could get on to her. Then they examined the
dead. Vigbjod had already expired. Onund went up to him and
said:
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