1. Þat er upphaf á sǫgu þessi, at Hákon konungr Aðalsteinsfóstri1 réð fyrir Nóregi; ok var þetta á ofanverðum hans dǫgum. 2. Þorkell2 hét maðr; hann var kallaðr skerauki;3 hann bjó í Súrnadal4 ok var hersir að nafnbót.5 3. Hann átti sér konu, er Ísgerðr hét, ok sonu iij. barna;6 hét einn7 Ari, annarr Gísli, þriði Þorbjǫrn; hann var þeira yngstr, ok óxu allir upp heima þar. 4. Maðr er nefndr Ísi; hann bjó í firði þeim er Fibuli8 heitir, á Norðmœri; kona hans hét Ingigerðr, en Ingibjǫrg dóttir. Ari, sonr Þorkels súrdœls, biðr hennar, ok var hón hánum gefin með miklu fé. 5. Kolr hét þræll, er í brott fór með henni.9
6. Maðr hét Bjǫrn enn blakki,10 ok var berserkr;11 hann fór um land ok skoraði12 á menn til hólmgǫngu,13 ef eigi vildu hans vilja gera. 7. Hann kom um vetrinn til Þorkels Súrdœls; Ari, sonr hans, réð14 þá fyrir búi. 8. Bjǫrn gerir Ara tvá kosti, hvárt hann vill heldr15 berjaz við hann í hólmi þeim, er þar liggr í Súrnadal ok heitir Stokkahólmr,16 eða vill hann selja hánum í hendr konu sína. 9. Hann kaus skjótt, at hann vill heldr berjaz, en hvártveggja17 yrði at skǫmm,18 hann ok kona hans; skyldi þessi fundr véra á þriggja nátta fresti. 10. Nú líðr til hólmstefnu framan;19 þá berjaz þeir, ok lýkr svá at Ari fellr20 ok lætr líf sitt. 11. Þykkiz Bjǫrn hafa vegit til landa ok konu; Gísli segir, at hann vill heldr láta líf sitt, en þetta gangi fram,21 vill hann ganga á hólm við Bjǫrn.
12. Þá tók Ingibjǫrg til orða: “Eigi var ek af því Ara gipt, at ek vilda þik eigi heldr átt hafa. Kolr, þræll minn á sverð,22 er Grásíða23 heitir, ok skaltu biðja, at hann ljái þér; því at þat fylgir því sverði, at sá skal sigr hafa, er þat hefir til orrostu.”
Hann biðr þrælinn sverðsins, ok þótti þrælnum mikit24 fyrir at ljá. 13. Gísli bjóz til hólmgǫngu, ok berjaz þeir, ok lýkr svá, at Bjǫrn fellr. 14. Gísli þóttiz nú hafa unnit mikinn sigr; ok þat er sagt, at hann biðr Ingibjargar, ok vildi eigi láta góða konu ór ætt ganga25 ok fær hennar; nú tekr hann allan fjárhlut ok geriz mikill maðr fyrir sér. 15. Því næst andaz faðir hans, ok tekr Gísli allan fjárhlut eptir hann. 16. Hann lét drepa þá alla, sem með Birni hǫfðu fylgt.26
17. Þrællinn heimti27 sverð sitt, ok vill Gísli eigi laust láta ok býðr hann fé fyrir, en þrællinn vill ekki annat en sverð sitt, ok fær ekki at heldr. 18. Þetta líkar þrælnum illa, ok veitir Gísla tilræði;28 var þat29 mikit sár. Gísli høggr í móti með Grásíðu í hǫfuð þrælnum, svá fast, at sverðit brotnaði, en haussinn lamðiz,30 ok fær hvártveggi31 bana.
1: Hákon, King of Norway 935-61. His last days (ofanverðir dagar) were therefore in the years 950-61. According to the calculation of G. Vigfússon (Safu til sögu Ísl. I, 362) Gísli came to Iceland near the year 955; this year also fits very well if one refers the words, ok var þetta, not to the Norwegian events mentioned below but to the relocation, which is most likely. ↩
2: Þorkell, is not known from from any other source. In S (The other version of GS.) he carries the nickname gullhjálmr. ↩
3: skerauki, this nickname apears to be composed of sker (sea rock) and auki(augmentum) ↩
4: Súrnadal, today Surnadal, near the Súrnadalsfjǫrðr, a neighboring fjord near Halsfjord in Nordmøe. ↩
5: nafnbót, “ennobling of name,” i.e. title. ↩
6: barna, gen. pl., “of children.” ↩
7: einn, is more common than fyrstr in enumerations. ↩
8: Fibuli, a fjord in Nordmøe, somewhat farther north than Halsfjord; the name is preserved in the name of the farm Fevelen, s. Sproglig-hist. stud. tilegnede prof. Unger (1896) p. 44. ↩
9: í brott–henni, “who was given to her (as property).” ↩
10: enn blakki, “the dark,” of the color of the skin.
Ꝩ The lexical range also allows for, “the pale,” or “the white,” as a foreboding of death. See Cleasby/Vigfusson. ↩
11: About berserks and berserker battles, see Egilss. c. 64, Grettiss. c. 19 u. 40. ↩
12: skoraði, Ꝩ “challenged.” ↩
13: hólmgǫngu, Ꝩ a duel or battle. ↩
14: réð, since he was already married and the oldest of the brothers; the father was no longer able to manage the farm due to his age. ↩
15: at hann vill heldr, is actually pleonastic; and the scribe writes as if he meant segir instead of kaus. ↩
16: Stokkahólmr, perhaps one of the small islands in the innermost part of Surnadalsfjord. ↩
17: hvártveggja is ntr. Ꝩ“each of them.” ↩
18: yrði at skømm, he through his cowardice, she as the berserker’s prize. ↩
19: framan, about the same as fram; framan is the starting point of the agreed time. ↩
20: fellr, usually falla, means the same as láta líf; this expression literally means, “to fall down,” or, “to be struck down.” ↩
21: gangi fram, “to pass,” or, “to become reality.” ↩
22: sverð, a spear is made from this sword later, (s. c. 11, 3, see Sturlunga (Oxford) I, 247, 376,), where the same spear is mentioned as still existing in the 13th century. ↩
23: Grásiða, “gray blade,” or, “The weapon with the gray blade;” the color of the iron. ↩
24: þótti–mikit fyrir, “It was difficult for the slave,” or, “he was reluctant,” (to loan the sword.) ↩
25: eiga lata–ganga, that someone married the widow of their brother occurs often, for instance in Egils saga, when Egil marries the widow of Þórólf, and later in our present saga when Børkr marries Þordis (c. 14), and so on. ↩
26: þá alla–fylgt, these people are not mentioned before this; this would not have been necessary either because berserkers usually had a cohort; in the recension S, twelve are specified. ↩
28: tilrœði, “attack;” or, “try to kill someone,” from ráða til (manns) “to attack someone.” ↩
29: var þat, “it grew to be” (the wound), “the wound, which he inflicted, came to be severe.” ↩
30: lamðiz, Ꝩ the reflexive usage appears in the next page here. “fractured.” ↩
31: hvártveggi, that is, Gísli and the slave; Weinhold (Altn. leben s. 197) completely misunderstood the position. ↩