Grettir the Strong, an Icelandic Saga | Page 4

wooden leg,
wherefore he was called Onund Treefoot as long as he lived.
CHAPTER III
MEETING OF DEFEATED CHIEFS IN THE WEST AND
MARRIAGE OF ONUND
There were then in the western parts many distinguished men who had
fled from their homes in Norway before King Harald, for he declared
all who fought against him outlaws, and seized their property. As soon
as Onund had recovered from his wound, Thrand went with his party to
Geirmund Swarthyskin, who was the most eminent of the vikings in the
West. They asked him whether he was not going to try and regain his
kingdom in Hordland, and offered to join him, hoping by this means to
do something for their own properties, for Onund was very wealthy and
his kindred very powerful. Geirmund answered that Harald had such a
force that there was little hope of gaining any honour by fighting when
the whole country had joined against him and been beaten. He had no
mind, he said, to become the king's thrall, and to beg for that which he
had once possessed in his own right. Seeing that he was no longer in
the vigour of his youth he preferred to find some other occupation. So
Onund and his party returned to the Southern Islands, where they met
many of their friends.
There was a man named Ofeig, nicknamed Grettir. He was the son of
Einar, the son of Olvir the Babyman. He was a brother of Oleif the
Broad, the father of Thormod Shaft. Another son of Olvir was named
Steinolf, the father of Una, whom Thorbjorn the Salmon-man married.
A third son of Olvir was Steinmod, who was the father of Konal, the
father of Alfdis of the Barra Isles. Konal's son was named Steimnod; he
was the father of Halldora, whom Eilif, the son of Ketil the One-handed,
married.
Ofeig Grettir married Asny, the daughter of Vestar, the son of Haeing.

His sons were Asmund the Beardless and Asbjorn, and his daughters
were named Aldis, Aesa, and Asvor. Ofeig had fled from the wrath of
King Harald into the West over the sea, along with his kinsman
Thormod Shaft and all their families. They ravaged far and wide in the
western seas. Thrand and Onund Treefoot were going West to Ireland
to join Thrand's brother, Eyvind the
Easterner, who had command of
the Irish defences. Eyvind's mother was named Hlif; she was the
daughter of Hrolf, the son of Ingjald, the son of King Frodi, while
Thrand's mother was Helga, the daughter of Ondott Crow. The father of
Eyvind and Thrand was Bjorn, the son of Hrolf of Ar. He had had to
leave Gautland because he had burnt in his house Sigfast the
father-in-law of King Solvi. Then he went to Norway and spent the
winter with Grim the Hersir, a son of Kolbjorn the Sneak, who wanted
to murder him for his money. Thence Bjorn went to Ondott Crow, who
lived in Hvinisfjord in Agdir. There he was well received, stayed the
winter, and went campaigning with Ondott in the summer until his wife
Hlif died. Eventually Ondott gave Bjorn his daughter Helga, and Bjorn
then no longer went out to fight. Eyvind had taken over his father's
ships and become a great chief in the western parts. He married Rafarta,
the daughter of the Irish king Kjarval. Their sons were Helgi the Lean
and
Snaebjorn.
When Thrand and Onund came to the Southern Islands they found there
Ofeig Grettir and Thormod Shaft, with whom they became very
friendly, for each thought the others had risen from the dead, their last
meeting having been in Norway when the war was at its worst. Onund
was very silent, and Thrand, when he noticed it, asked what was on his
mind. Onund answered with a verse:
"No joy is mine since in battle I fought.
Many the sorrows that o'er
me lower.
Men hold me for nought; this thought is the worst
of all
that oppresses my sorrowing heart."
Thrand said: "Why, you still seem as full of vigour as ever you were.
You may yet settle down and marry. You shall have my good word and
my interest if you will only tell me whom you fancy."

Onund said he behaved nobly; but said there had once been a time
when his chances of making a profitable marriage had been better.
Thrand said: "Ofeig has a daughter named Aesa; we might mention it if
you like."
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