Lögberg-Heimskringla - 04.06.1970, Blaðsíða 8

8
LÖGBERG-HEIMSKRINGLA, FIMMTUDAGINN 4. JÚNÍ 1970
out of food. Never before had
he been in such circumstan-
ces.. His only hope lay in gett-
ing groceries on credit from
the store at Hnausa. On the
way, he met two farmers re-
tuming from the lake. He
asked if they had fish to
spare, but they had traded all
their fish for food at Hnausa
because the storekeeper wasn’t
extending credit to anyone.
Sorely disappointed, Trausti
t u r n e d northward toward
Gestur Gudmundsson’s farm
at Sandy Bar.
The Gudmundssons didn’t
think his errand a strange
one. They would show him
Betsey Ramsay’s grave. He
found the grave just as Ram-
say had described it, the fence
gone and the stone lying face
downward. The next morning
he set to work putting up the
fence. It was well made and
looked like it would last for
years. He had restored Betsey
Ramsay’s grave. He had kept
his promise.
When Trausti was ready to
set off for home, Gestur Gud-
mundsson put two huge bags
of fish on his wagon, cutting
Trausti’s stammered thanks
short. “One good tum de-
serves another,” he said. “This
is for Ramsay.” ,
Never again was Trausti’s
lot as hard as it had been that
day. He became the master
builder of the community:
The houses and churches he
built still stand there, mute
testimony to his craftsman-
ship. John Ramsay kept his
word.
Iceland s Early Settlers
wife. I buried her there and
marked her resting place with
a stonp enelosed by a fence.
The fence is gone and the
stone lies flat on the grave.
It will break and there will
be nothing left. I ask you, my
white brother, to rebuild the
fence.”
“I am a poor man with
neither time nor money to
spare,” replied Trausti with
reluctance. “Many of your old
friends are still alive. You
h e 1 p e d them once. They
would be pleased to help you
now in retum.”
The Indian shook his head.
“Their ears are grown deaf.
Long I have searched to find
someone who will hsten to
my request. At last I have
found such a man. You must
not fail me. In life I loved
her more than a heart can
say; in death I do not love
her less. Her resting place
must not be lost and forgot-
ten.” Trausti was silent. He
had heard about the suffer-
ing at Sandy Bar in the win-
ter of 1876. It was a small re-
quest. He couldn’t refuse.
“Very well. I shall build a
fence for you as soon as I
have time,” he promised. “I
shall not forget,” said Ram-
say. “Somehow I shall find a
way to repay you.” In the
days that followed, Trausti
thought often of the dream
he had had, and the fence he
had promised to build. But
as time passed, the promise
faded from his memory.
Months went by, then one
night Trausti dreamed he was
standing near his cabin when
Ramsay walked toward him
from the forest. “My brother
has a short memory,” said
Ramsay in gentle reproach.
“You have forgotten your
promise.” Trausti was filled
with remorse. He took the
Indian’s hand in both his own
and looked eamestly at him.
“It’s true, and I’m sorry. I
will build your fence in pay-
ment for the kindness you
showed the Icelanders long
ago.”
The dark eyes k i n d 1 e d.
“That is good. You will not
forget. Rarnsay will not for-
get either.” Then he walked
toward the forest, raised his
hand in farewell and disap-
peared.
Trausti lost no more time.
The following day he set to
work carving the pickets. But
he ran out of wood and put
the pickets away in a shed
and waited for better days.
All winter the unfinished
fence lay in the shed, but
Trausti didn’t forget his pro-
mise and the following sum-
mer he finished the pickets.
When the haying season was
over, he piled the pickets and
the lumber for the framework
on a wagon and set off for
Sandy Bar. His spirits were
low. He hadn’t a cent in his
pockets and he was almost
Conlinued froxn page 1.
4. Gardar's Isle
There was a man called
Gardar Svafarsson, of Swed-
ish stock, who went out in
search of Snowland guided by
his mother, who had second
sight. He made land east of
Eastern Hom, where at that
time ships could put in. Gard-
ar sailed right round the
country and proved it to be
an islatnd. He built himself a
house at Husavik on the
Skjalfandi in the north and
stayed the winter there. In
the spring, after he had put
out to sea, a boat drifted away
from his ship with a man
called Nattfari aboard, and a
slave and a bondwoman. Natt-
fari settled down there at a
place c a 11 e d Nattfaravik.
Gardar sailed back to Nor-
way, full of praise for the
new land. He was the father
of Uni, f a t h e r of Hroar
Tongue-Priest. Afterwards
the land was called Gardar's
Isle. In those days it was
wooded all the way from the
mountains right down to the
sea.
5. Raven-Floki
There was a man called
Floki Vilgerdarson, a great
viking. He set off in search
of Gardar's Isle, putting out
from a place called Floki’s
Cairn on the border between
Hordardal a n d Rogaland.
First he sailed over to Shet-
land, and lay at anchor at
Floka Creek. His daughter,
Geirhild, was drowned in
Geirhildarwater in Shetland.
On board Floki’s ship was a
man called Thorolf, and an-
other called Herjolf, and also
a Hebridean called Faxi.
Floki took three ravens with
him on the voyage. When
he set the first one free it
flew back from the stern, but
the second raven flew straight
up into the air, and then back
down to the ship, while the
third flew straight ahead
from the prow, and that was
the direction w h e r e they
found land.9
They came west to Hom,
and sailed southwards. As
they s a i 1 e d west round
Reykjaness and the bay
opened up so they could see
westwards to Snaefellsness,
Faxi had this to say: “This
must be a big country we’ve
found. The rivers are big
enough”. After this the bay
was called Faxi’s Estuary.10
Floki and his crew sailed
west across Breidafjord and
made land at Vatnsfjord in
Bardastrand. At that time
the fjord was teeming with
fish, and they got so caught
up with the fishing they for-
got to make hay, so their
livestock starved to death the
following winter.
The spring was an extreme-
ly cold one. Floki climbed a
certain high mountain, and
north across the mountain
range he could see a fjord
full of drift ice. That’s why
they called the country Ice-
land, and so it’s been called
ever since.
In the summer, Floki and
his men planned to sail away,
but they were only ready just
before winter. They tried un-
successfully to tack round
Reykjaness, and then their
towboat with Herjolf on
board cut loose from the ship.
He managed to scramble
ashore at a place called Herj-
olfshaven. Floki stayed the
winter in Borgarfjord. They
found Herjolf and sailed over
to Norway the following sum-
mer. When they were asked
about the new country Floki
had nothing but good to say
of it, but Herjolf described its
merits as well as its faults.
Thorolf said that in the land
they’d found, butter was drip-!
ping from every blade of |
Gardar and Naiifari
grass. That’s why people cal-
led him Thorolf Butter.
6. The blood-Broihers
There was a man called
Bjomolf, and amother called
Hroald, sons of Hromund
Gripsson11. They left Tele-
mark because of some kill-
ings and settled down at
Dalsfjord in Fjalar Province.
Bjornolf had a son called Orn
who was the father of Ingolf
and Helga. Hroald had a son
called Hrodmar, father of
Leif.
Ingolf and Leif were blood-
brothers, and they went on a
viking expedition with Ha-
stein, Herstein, and Holm-
stein, the sons of Earl Atli the
Slender of Gaular. They all
got on well together, and
when they came back home,
they agreed to join forces the
following summer. Next win-
ter the blood-brothers gave a
feast for the earl’s sons, and
at that feast Holmstein swore
a solemn oath to marry Helga
Orn’s-daughter, or else not to
marry at all. People didn’t
like this vow. Leif flushed
red, and he and Holmstein
parted on cool terms when
the feast was over.
In the spring the blood-
brothers got themselves ready
for a viking expedition, plan-
ning to do something about
the sons of Atli. They met up
with them at Hisargafl. Holm-
stein and his brothers fought
back, but after they’d been
fighting for a while, Olmod
the Old, son of Horda-Kari
and Leif’s kinsman, turned up
with support for Leif and Ing-
olf. Holmstein was killed in
this battle and Herstein had
to run for it. After that, the
blood-brothers set out on
their viking expedition.
Next winter, Herstein led
an attack on Leif and Ingolf,
hoping to kill them, but they
were put on their guard and
made a counter-move against
him. There was a fierce battle
and Herstein was killed. After
that a number of their friends
from Fjord Province rallied
r o u n d the blood-brothers.
Then messengers were sent to
earl Atli and Hastein to offer
compensation, and a settle-
ment was reached on these
terms that Leif and Ingolf
gave the earl and his son ev-
erything they owned.
After that the blood-broth-
ers got ready a large ship of
theirs and set out in search of
the land Raven-Floki had dis-
covered, by that time called
Iceland. They found the land,
and stayed the first winter
at South-Alftafjord in the
Eastfjords. It seemed to them
the country was better in the
south than in the north. After
spending a winter in Iceland,
they went back to Norway.
Later, Ingolf laid out all his
money to go to Iceland, but
Leif went on a viking expedi-
tion to the west, and plun-
dered in Ireland. Once he
found a large underground
chamber there and went in-
side. It was dark until light
started coming from a sword
someone was holding. Leif
killed the man and took the
sword and a good deal of
money besides. After this he
was known as Hjorleif12. He
plundered all over Ireland and
took a great deal of loot. He
captured ten • slaves there,
c a 11 e d Dufthak, Geirraud,
Skjaldbjorn, Halldor, Draf-
drit, — the rest of them aren’t
mentioned by name. After
that Hjorleif went back to
Norway and joined Ingolf his
blood-brother. E a r 1 i e r Leif
had married Helga Om’s-
daughter, Ingolf’s sister.
7. Sacrifice
That winter Ingolf held a
great sacrifice to discover-
what the future had in store
for him, but Hjorleif would
never sacrifice to the gods.
The oracle told Ingolf to go
to Iceland. After that he and
his brother-in-law got their
ships ready separately for the