XII. NORTH AND EAST FJORDS : GRETTIR THE STRONG AND VIGA-GLUM. The curse of Glam was fulfilled in Drangey, where Grettir was at last surprised and slain, after a career of adventure, even in those adventurous days unmatched. Drangey is an island in Skagafjord, a mass of rock rising some hundreds of feet above the sea, precipitous on all sides, like Geirsholmi in Hvalfjord, only much larger in scale. Like Geirsholmi it had only one ascent, so difficult, the saga says, “that no one could climb it except with ladders; and when the topmost ladder was withdrawn, nobody could get up.” The cliffs were full of birds in summer, and there were eighty sheep on the island, owned by farmers who lived on the shores of the firth. Near it, a tall and narrow pinnacle of rock, the Kerling, “Carline,” stands in the sea to the south; another, the Karl, is on the north; otherwise Drangey is solitary at the mouth of the fjord, open to the Arctic Sea. The nearest land is at the farm of Reykir, another of the many places called after hot springs, about four miles from the island. As we steamed into the fjord, rolling in the swell of the open sea after rough weather, the sunset died away in purple and rosy light on the hills, and gave place to a cold blue twilight, with a moon that silvered the snowy summits. Drangey stood grim and grey upon the water, seeming unapproachable, with bare sides and bare top, the most inhospitable of abodes. Here Grettir the Strong took refuge after fifteen or sixteen years of outlawry—“as Sturla Thordson has said”: modern critics make out the time to have been shorter,—but of the historical fact there is no doubt, however confused it may be with forgotten chronology and scraps of marvellous folklore foisted on the story. The curse worked in this way,—that Grettir could never be alone in the dark. He was always haunted by the eyes. He took one and another companion in his exile from human intercourse, but no one proved faithful to him. At last he found a servant, a merry fool who promised to cheer his melancholy, and known by the name of Glaum (which means jolly bustling, as at a feast). Grettir’s brother Illugi joined them, and they built a hut on the island—fed on the sheep—and as long as the ladders were looked after, defied the world. But after four years the sheep were nearly all killed;—Glaum’s merriment turned to mutiny, and Grettir was brought to death’s door by a wound he had given himself, which mortified. This, folk thought, could never have happened but by witchcraft. It was a witch who had cut runes on the drift-wood and rubbed blood on it, and walked withershins round it, and laid spells on it, and driven it out to sea for Grettir’s bane. It was the fool Glaum who brought up the log and teased Grettir into chopping it, and so he came by his mishap. And while he lay in a frightful condition of gangrene, with his brother hanging over him in despairing devotion, the rascally Glaum—■ half knave and half idiot—snored on the grass, leaving the ladders down and the approach open to the enemy. They were not long in taking advantage of their opportunity. With a large party they climbed the ladders, captured Glaum, overpowered Illugi and slew the dying Grettir. 169

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