68 GUIDE TO ICELAND. ‘ She answered :—“ To no one will I give place, for I will not be driven into the corner by any one.” ‘ “ I shall rule here,” said Bergjmra. ‘After that porhalla sat down, and Bergpora went round the table with water to wash the guests’ hands. Then HallgerSa took hold of Bergpora’s hand, and maliciously said:— ‘ “ There’s not much to choose, though, between you two. Thou hast hangnails upon every finger, and Ujal is beardless.” ‘“That’s true,” said Berg]?6ra; “yet neither of us finds fault with the other for it; but porvaldr, thy husband, was not beardless, yet thou plottedst his death.” ‘ Then HallgerSa said, “ It stands me in little stead to have the bravest man in Iceland if thou dost not avenge this, Gunnar! ” ‘ He sprang up and strode across from the board, and said :— “ Home I will go, and it were more seemly that thou should’st wrangle with those of thine own household, and not under other men’s roofs; but as for Njal, I am his debtor for much honour, and never will I be egged on by thee like a fool.” ’ "Upon the veriest trifle great events frequently hinge, is a truism, and this petty quarrel between two women not only resulted indirectly in the deaths of Gunnar, Hjal and his wife and sons, and many of the noblest and bravest men in Iceland at that day, but at one time bade fair to bring about intestine war, most of the chief families espousing the cause of the Njal family or that of its enemies. The first victim was Njal’s ‘house-carle,’ Svart; HallgerSa’s grieve, Kol, at her instigation, slew him while he was hewing wood in a tract of woodland owned in common by Hjal and Gunnar. Bergjwra directed her new house-carle, Atli, to avenge Svart, and forthwith he slew Kol ; and in turn was slain by Brynjolfr the Unruly, a kinsman of HallgerSa’s, by whom he was brought from the west to avenge the death of Kol. He fell next, and then Hjal and Gunnar came to terms to secure peace between their households. Such a woman as HallgerSa, however, could not rest long out of mischief; and one day she said to Gunnar:— ‘ It is not good to be content with that hundred in silver, which thou tookest for my kinsman Brynjolfr. I shall .avenge him if I can ’ : and notwithstanding that Gunnar himself warned pord—the foster-father of all Njal’s sons, who had slain Brynjolfr, he was attacked by two men, SigmumSr and Skiolld—a third, prain, standing by—and was killed. Again Njal and Gunnar, as the heads of the two families, make

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