Lögberg-Heimskringla - 04.06.1970, Page 9

Lögberg-Heimskringla - 04.06.1970, Page 9
LÖGBERG-HEIMSKRINGLA, FIMMTUDAGINN 4. JÚNÍ 1970 9 voyage. Hjorleif loaded his ship with the loot he’d won, an4 in his ship Ingolf carried what they held in common. As soon as they were ready they put out to sea. 8. In Iceland The summer Ingolf and Hjorleif went to settle in Ice- land, Harald Fine-Hair had been king of Norway for twelve years. It was then 6073 years from the Beginning of the World, and 874 years from the Incarnation of our Lord13. They sailed close to one another until they made land- fall, and then they got separa- ted. As soon as Ingolf caught his first glimpse of Iceland, he threw his highseat pillars overboard, hoping for a good omen, and declared he’d settle wherever the pillars happen- ed to be washed ashore. Now- adays the place where he landed is called Ingolfshofdi. Hjorleif drifted west along the coast. He ran short of drinking water, and what the Irish slaves did was to knead together flour and butter, saying it was good for thirst. They c a 11 e d the mixture minthak14, but by the time the mixture was ready it started raining heavily, so they were able to collect rainwater from the sails. When the minthak grew musty they threw it overboard, and it was washed ashore at a place now called Minthakseyr. Hjorleif made land at Hjorleifshofdi. In those days there was a fjord there stretching right up to the headland. Hjorleif had two houses built there; the ruins of one of them measures eighteen fathoms across, and the other nineteen. Hjorleif spent the winter there. In the spring he wanted to sow. He had only one ox and told his slaves to pull the plough. One day when Hjorleif and his men w e r e at the houses, Dufthak put it to his fellow- slaves that they should sláughter the ox and say a brown bear had killed it; then they. could attack Hjorleif should he go looking for the bear. So they went along and told Herjolf, and when he and his men spread out in the woods looking for the bear, the slaves set on them, and murdered them all, one after another, just as many men as there were slaves. Then the slaves ran away with the dead men’s boat, and their wives and goods. They rowed over to the islands they’d seen to the southwest and prepared themselves for a longish stay. Ingolf had two slaves called Vifil and Karli, and he sent them west along the shore to look for his highseat pillars. When they came to Herjolfs- hofdi, they found Hjorleif dead there, so they turned back to tell Ingolf what had happened. He took the death of Hjorleif and his men badly. He set out west to Hjorleifs- hofdi, and when he saw Hjor- leif he said, “it’s a sorry end for a warrior, to be killed by slaves, but, in my experience, this is what always happens to people who won’t hold sacrifices.” Ingolf had Hjorleif and his men buried, and took over his ship and various other of his things. Then he climbed to the top of the headland and saw some islands lying to the southwest, and it occurred to him that, since the boa-t was missing, the s 1 a v e s might have fled there. They set out in search of the slaves and found them in the islands at a place called Eid. They were eating a meal when Ingolf and his men surprised them, and the slavas were so fright- ened they scattered in all di- rections. Ingolf killed every one of them. The place where Dufthak met his death is called Dufthaksskor. Many of the slaves jumped over a cliff that’s been called after them ever since. The islands where the slaves were killed have been called Westmanna Is- lands ever since, as the men came from the west. Ingolf and his men took the widows of the murdered men with them and went back to Hjor- leifshofdi, where he spent the following winter. Next spring he sailed along the coast west- wards, and stayed the third winter at Ingolfsfell, west of Olfus River. In that year, Vifil and Karli f o u n d his highseat pillars at Arnarhill, west of the moor. 9. Ingolf's settlement In the spring Ingolf travel- led west across the moor. He made his home at the spot where his highseat pillars had been washed ashore, and hved at Reykjavik. The highseat pillars can still be seen in the hall there. Ingolf claimed possession of the whole region b e t w e e n Olfus River and Hvalfjord, south of Brynju- dale and Oxar Rivers, includ- ing all the Nesses. Then Karli said “It’s not much use our travelling across good country, if we’re going to live on this out, of- the-way headland”. After that he disappeared, taking a slave girl with him. Ingolf gave Vifil his free- dom, and he settled down at Vifilstoft; Vifilsfell also takes its name from him. He lived there for a long time and be- came a man of some impor- tance. Ingolf had a house built at Skalafell. From there he noticed some smoke at Olfus- water, and that’s where he found Karli. Ingolf was the most famous of all the settlers, because he came to this country when it was still uninhabited and he was the first man to settle there permanently. After that, other settlers came and fol- lowed his example. I n g o 1 f married Hallveig Frodi's-daughter, sister of Loft the Old, and their son was Thorstein who founded the Kjalamess Assembly be fore the Althing wals establ- ished15. Thorstein was the father of Thorkel Moon the Lawspeaker16, who as far as people can tell was one of the noblest heathen ever. When he was lying on his death-bed, Thorkel Moon had himself carried out to a shaft of sunlight, and gave himself to the god who created the sun. He had led a life as blameless as the best of Chris- tians. His son was Thormod, who held the principal chief- taincy at the time when Christianity c a m e to Ice- land17, Thormod was the fath- er of Hamal, father of Mar, Thormod and Torfi. 10. Bjorn Buna's descendanís There was an outstanding chieftain in Norway, called Bjorn Buna, son of the chief tain Wether-Grim of Sogn. Grim’s mother was Hervor, daughter of Thorgerd, daughter of chieftain Eylaug of Sogn. Almost all the pro- minent Icelanders are des- cended from Bjorn Buna. He married a woman called Ve- laug, and they had three sons: one was Ketil Flat Nose, the next was Hrapp, amd the third Helgi. They were all remark- able men, and a great deal will be said about their des cendants in this book. 11. Thord Skeggi There was a man called Thord Skeggi, the son of Hrapp, Bjorn Buna’s son. Thord married Vilborg Os- vald’s-daughter. They had a daughter called Helga who was married to Ketilbjorn the Old. Thord went to Iceland, and with Ingolf’s approval settled upon land claimed by Inigolf between Ulfars River and Leira Brook. He made his home at Skeggjastead, and many important Icelanders trace their descent from him. 12. Hall ihe Godless There was a man called Hall the Godless, the son of Helgi the Godless. Father and son believed in their own strength and refused to hold sacrifices. Hall went to Ice- land and with Ingolf’s ap- proval took possession of the area between Leira Creek and Mogils River, making his home at Muli. Hall was the father of Helgi who married Thurid Ketilbjorn’s-daughter. Their son was Thord of Alfta ness, who married Gudny Hrafnkel’s-daughter. FOOTNOTES 1. Aldarfarsbók. It is not certain whether this refers to Bede’s De temporibus or his De tem- porum ratione. There are re- ferences to Tliule in both books. 2. Thule (MSS Thyle, Tyle, etc.) 3. This reference to Papar agrees with Ari Thorgilsson (Book of the Icelanders, Ch. I). The word papi (pl. papar) is bor- rowed from Irish papa (itself a Latin loanword) which oc- curs in early texts in the sense ‘an Irish anchorite’. Place n a m e s compounded with the word papi as the first element are known in the Isle of Man, Cumberland, the Hebrides, Shetland, Orkn- ey, The Faroes, and Iceland. 4. This could be an allusion to Bede’s On the Books of the Kings, where he mentions people from Thule having visited Britain in his lifetime, but there are other references in early English writings. 5. Adrian II was Pope 867-72, succeeded by John VIII, 872- 82 Louis (the Gerrnan), son of Louis, was king of Ger- many 643-76. Leo VI was Em- peror 886-912, and his brother (not son) Alexander 912-913. King Eirik of Sweden died, according to The Icelandic Annals, in 671. King Alfred of England ruled from 871- 899 and his son Edward (the Elder) 899-924. King Kjarval has been identified with’ King Cerball of Ossory who died in 888, but he never ruled over Dublin. For Earl Sigprd (the Mighty) of Orkney, see The Lives of ihe Earls of Orkney (or Orkneyinga Saga). King Harald Fine-Hair of Norway is supposed to have ruled for a period of seventy years and died in 931. Gorm the Old ruled Denmark c. 900- 935. 6. Jölduhlaup. The indentifica- tion with Slyne Head in Con- nemara was made by Eamonn Ó Tuathaii, in Eigse VI, 155- 56. 7. Svalbarði (Discovered, ac- cording to The Icelandic An- nals, in 1194) There is some doubt as to the identification of this place name. Jan Mayen has been suggested, but con- sidering the distance from Iceland given here, Spitzberg- en seems more likely. 8. Saemund Sigfusson “the Learned” (1056-1133) was Ice- land’s first historian, but all his works, including the one referred to here, are now lost. 9. The story of Floki’s ravens has been compared with the account of Noah’s raven and dove, Genesis VIII. 10. Now Faxaflói (Faxa Bay). 11. A legendary hero. The ori- ginal (12th century?) Hro- mund's Saga is no longer ex- tant, but a 14th century me- trical version of it survives, on which a still later prose saga was based. 12. The first element in the name (hjör-) means a sword. 13. In his Book of the Icelanders (c. 1125) Ari Thorgilsson says that Ingolf went to Iceland about the time St. Edmund of East Anglia was killed by the vikings, in 870. 14. A loan-word from the Irish, menadach meaning “gruel made of meal and water, or of meal and butter”. 15. The Althing was instituted in 930. 16. T h o r k e 1 Moon was Law- speaker of the Althing 970- 984. 17. According to early Icelandic reckoning this was in A.D. 1000, but it may in fact have been in 999. THE 1294 ERUPTION OF HEKLA “The fifth fire in Mount Hekla appeared with such great force and earthquakes that in mainy places in Fljóts - hlíð a n d Rangarvellir and also beyond T h j ó r s á the ground was split and many buildings fell because of the quaking and people perished. Oddver j aannáll. (From Dr. Sigurdur Thór- arinson’s book The Eruptions of Hekla in Historical Times, Reykjavík 1967). ACTION by ROBERT JOHANNSON In a warm well furnished apartment In a soft chair sitting comfortably With a full stomach With cigarettes and coffee, I read of suffering And the need to endure pain, And I say “How true.” When I am thrown into prison Tortured and bombarded Denounced by all who see me, I will be prepared With quotations. A settler with his highseal pillars

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