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==Chapter 88==
==Chapter 88==
'''Death of Egil Skallagrim's son'''
Egil Skallagrim's son now grew old, and in his old age became heavy in movement, and dull both in hearing and sight; he became also stiff in the legs. Egil was at Moss-fell with Grim and Thordis. It happened one day that as Egil went out along the house-wall he stumbled and fell. Some women saw this, and laughed, saying: 'You are now quite gone, Egil, if you fall when alone.' Then said the master Grim, 'Women jeered at us less when we were younger.' Egil then sang:
'Old haltered horse I waver, <br>
Bald-head I weakly fall:<br>
Hollow my failing leg-bones,<br>
The fount of hearing dry.'<br>
Egil became quite blind. And it was so that one day, when the weather was cold, Egil went to the fire to warm himself. Whereupon the cook said that it was a great wonder, so mighty a man as Egil had been, that he should lie in their way so that they could not do their work. 'Be you civil,' said Egil, 'though I bask by the fire, and let us bear and forbear about place.' 'Stand you up,' said she, 'and go to your seat, and let us do our work.' Egil stood up, and went to his place and sang:
'Blind near the blaze I wander,<br>
Beg of the fire-maid pardon,<br>
Crave for a seat. Such sorrow<br>
From sightless eyes I bear.<br>
Yet England's mighty monarch<br>
Me whilom greatly honoured:<br>
And princes once with pleasure<br>
The poet's accents heard.'<br>
Again, once when Egil went to the fire to warm himself, a man asked him whether his feet were cold, and warned him not to put them too near the fire. 'That shall be so,' said Egil; 'but 'tis not easy steering my feet now that I cannot see; a very dismal thing is blindness.' Then Egil sang:
'Lonely I lie,<br>
And think it long,<br>
Carle worn with eld<br>
From kings' courts exiled.<br>
Feet twain have I,<br>
Frosty and cold,<br>
Bedfellows needing<br>
Blaze of fire.'<br>
In the later days of Hacon the Great Egil Skallagrim's son was in his ninth decade of years, and save for his blindness was a hale and hearty man. One summer, when men made ready to go to the Thing, Egil asked Grim that he might ride with him to the Thing. Grim was slow to grant this. And when Grim and Thordis talked together, Grim told her what Egil had asked. 'I would like you,' said he, 'to find out what lies under this request.' Thordis then went to talk with Egil her uncle: it was Egil's chief pleasure to talk to her. And when she met him she asked: 'Is it true, uncle, that you wish to ride to the Thing? I want you to tell me what plan you have in this?' 'I will tell you,' said he, 'what I have thought of. I mean to take with me to the Thing two chests that king Athelstan gave me, each of which is full of English silver. I mean to have these chests carried to the Hill of Laws just when it is most crowded. Then I mean to sow broadcast the silver, and I shall be surprized if all share it fairly between them. Kicks, I fancy, there will be and blows; nay, it may end in a general fight of all the assembled Thing.' Thordis said: 'A famous plan, methinks, is this, and it will be remembered so long as Iceland is inhabited.'
After this Thordis went to speak with Grim and told him Egil's plan. 'That shall never be,' said he, 'that he carry this out, such monstrous folly.' And when Egil came to speak with Grim of their going to the Thing, Grim talked him out of it all; and Egil sat at home during the Thing. But he did not like it, and he wore a frowning look.
At Moss-fell were the summer-sheds of the milch kine, and during the Thing-time Thordis was at the sheds. It chanced one evening, when the household at Moss-fell were preparing to go to bed, that Egil called to him two thralls of Grim's. He bade them bring him a horse. 'I will go to the warm bath, and you shall go with me,' said he. And when Egil was ready, he went out, and he had with him his chests of silver. He mounted the horse. They then went down through the home paddock and under the slope there, as men saw afterwards. But in the morning, when men rose, they saw Egil wandering about in the holt east of the farm, and leading the horse after him. They went to him, and brought him home. But neither thralls nor chests ever came back again, and many are the guesses as to where Egil hid his money. East of the farm at Moss-fell is a gill coming down from the fell: and it is noteworthy that in rapid thaws there was a great rush of water there, but after the water has fallen there have been found in the gill English pennies. Some guess that Egil must have hidden his money there. Below the farm enclosure at Moss-fell are bogs wide and very deep. Many feel sure that 'tis there Egil hid his money. And south of the river are hot springs, and hard by there large earthholes, and some men guess that Egil must have hidden his money there, because out that way cairn-fires were often seen to hover. Egil said that he had slain Grim's thralls, also that he had hidden the chests, but where he had hidden them he told no man.
In the autumn following Egil fell sick of the sickness whereof he died. When he was dead, then Grim had Egil dressed in goodly raiment, and carried down to Tjalda-ness; there a sepulchral mound was made, and in it was Egil laid with his weapons and his raiment.
==References==
<references />


==Kafli 88==
==Kafli 88==


'''Andlát Egils Skalla-Grímssonar'''
'''Andlát Egils Skalla-Grímssonar'''
Egill Skalla-Grímsson varð maður gamall en í elli hans gerðist hann þungfær og glapnaði honum bæði heyrn og sýn. Hann gerðist og fótstirður. Egill var þá að Mosfelli með Grími og Þórdísi.
Egill Skalla-Grímsson varð maður gamall en í elli hans gerðist hann þungfær og glapnaði honum bæði heyrn og sýn. Hann gerðist og fótstirður. Egill var þá að Mosfelli með Grími og Þórdísi.


Line 83: Line 129:
Egill tók sótt eftir um haustið þá er hann leiddi til bana. En er hann var andaður þá lét Grímur færa Egil í klæði góð. Síðan lét hann flytja hann ofan í Tjaldanes og gera þar haug og var Egill þar í lagður og vopn hans og klæði.
Egill tók sótt eftir um haustið þá er hann leiddi til bana. En er hann var andaður þá lét Grímur færa Egil í klæði góð. Síðan lét hann flytja hann ofan í Tjaldanes og gera þar haug og var Egill þar í lagður og vopn hans og klæði.


==References==
==Tilvísanir==





Revision as of 12:07, 11 November 2011


Chapter 88

Death of Egil Skallagrim's son

Egil Skallagrim's son now grew old, and in his old age became heavy in movement, and dull both in hearing and sight; he became also stiff in the legs. Egil was at Moss-fell with Grim and Thordis. It happened one day that as Egil went out along the house-wall he stumbled and fell. Some women saw this, and laughed, saying: 'You are now quite gone, Egil, if you fall when alone.' Then said the master Grim, 'Women jeered at us less when we were younger.' Egil then sang:

'Old haltered horse I waver,
Bald-head I weakly fall:
Hollow my failing leg-bones,
The fount of hearing dry.'

Egil became quite blind. And it was so that one day, when the weather was cold, Egil went to the fire to warm himself. Whereupon the cook said that it was a great wonder, so mighty a man as Egil had been, that he should lie in their way so that they could not do their work. 'Be you civil,' said Egil, 'though I bask by the fire, and let us bear and forbear about place.' 'Stand you up,' said she, 'and go to your seat, and let us do our work.' Egil stood up, and went to his place and sang:

'Blind near the blaze I wander,
Beg of the fire-maid pardon,
Crave for a seat. Such sorrow
From sightless eyes I bear.
Yet England's mighty monarch
Me whilom greatly honoured:
And princes once with pleasure
The poet's accents heard.'

Again, once when Egil went to the fire to warm himself, a man asked him whether his feet were cold, and warned him not to put them too near the fire. 'That shall be so,' said Egil; 'but 'tis not easy steering my feet now that I cannot see; a very dismal thing is blindness.' Then Egil sang:

'Lonely I lie,
And think it long,
Carle worn with eld
From kings' courts exiled.
Feet twain have I,
Frosty and cold,
Bedfellows needing
Blaze of fire.'

In the later days of Hacon the Great Egil Skallagrim's son was in his ninth decade of years, and save for his blindness was a hale and hearty man. One summer, when men made ready to go to the Thing, Egil asked Grim that he might ride with him to the Thing. Grim was slow to grant this. And when Grim and Thordis talked together, Grim told her what Egil had asked. 'I would like you,' said he, 'to find out what lies under this request.' Thordis then went to talk with Egil her uncle: it was Egil's chief pleasure to talk to her. And when she met him she asked: 'Is it true, uncle, that you wish to ride to the Thing? I want you to tell me what plan you have in this?' 'I will tell you,' said he, 'what I have thought of. I mean to take with me to the Thing two chests that king Athelstan gave me, each of which is full of English silver. I mean to have these chests carried to the Hill of Laws just when it is most crowded. Then I mean to sow broadcast the silver, and I shall be surprized if all share it fairly between them. Kicks, I fancy, there will be and blows; nay, it may end in a general fight of all the assembled Thing.' Thordis said: 'A famous plan, methinks, is this, and it will be remembered so long as Iceland is inhabited.'

After this Thordis went to speak with Grim and told him Egil's plan. 'That shall never be,' said he, 'that he carry this out, such monstrous folly.' And when Egil came to speak with Grim of their going to the Thing, Grim talked him out of it all; and Egil sat at home during the Thing. But he did not like it, and he wore a frowning look.

At Moss-fell were the summer-sheds of the milch kine, and during the Thing-time Thordis was at the sheds. It chanced one evening, when the household at Moss-fell were preparing to go to bed, that Egil called to him two thralls of Grim's. He bade them bring him a horse. 'I will go to the warm bath, and you shall go with me,' said he. And when Egil was ready, he went out, and he had with him his chests of silver. He mounted the horse. They then went down through the home paddock and under the slope there, as men saw afterwards. But in the morning, when men rose, they saw Egil wandering about in the holt east of the farm, and leading the horse after him. They went to him, and brought him home. But neither thralls nor chests ever came back again, and many are the guesses as to where Egil hid his money. East of the farm at Moss-fell is a gill coming down from the fell: and it is noteworthy that in rapid thaws there was a great rush of water there, but after the water has fallen there have been found in the gill English pennies. Some guess that Egil must have hidden his money there. Below the farm enclosure at Moss-fell are bogs wide and very deep. Many feel sure that 'tis there Egil hid his money. And south of the river are hot springs, and hard by there large earthholes, and some men guess that Egil must have hidden his money there, because out that way cairn-fires were often seen to hover. Egil said that he had slain Grim's thralls, also that he had hidden the chests, but where he had hidden them he told no man.

In the autumn following Egil fell sick of the sickness whereof he died. When he was dead, then Grim had Egil dressed in goodly raiment, and carried down to Tjalda-ness; there a sepulchral mound was made, and in it was Egil laid with his weapons and his raiment.

References


Kafli 88

Andlát Egils Skalla-Grímssonar

Egill Skalla-Grímsson varð maður gamall en í elli hans gerðist hann þungfær og glapnaði honum bæði heyrn og sýn. Hann gerðist og fótstirður. Egill var þá að Mosfelli með Grími og Þórdísi.

Það var einn dag er Egill gekk úti með vegg og drap fæti og féll. Konur nokkurar sáu það og hlógu að og mæltu: „Farinn ertu nú Egill með öllu er þú fellur einn saman.“

Þá segir Grímur bóndi: „Miður hæddu konur að okkur þá er við vorum yngri.“

Þá kvað Egill:

Vald hefi eg vofur helsis,
váfallr er eg skalla.
Blautr erumst bergi fótar[1]
borr en lust er þorrin.

Egill varð með öllu sjónlaus. Það var einhvern dag er veður var kalt um veturinn að Egill fór til elds að verma sig. Matseljan ræddi um að það var undur mikið, slíkur maður sem Egill hafði verið, að hann skyldi liggja fyrir fótum þeim svo að þær mættu eigi vinna verk sín.

„Ver þú vel við,“ segir Egill, „þótt eg bakist við eldinn og mýkjumst vér við um rúmin.“

„Stattu upp,“ segir hún, „og gakk til rúms þíns og lát oss vinna verk vor.“

Egill stóð upp og gekk til rúms síns og kvað:

Hvarfa eg blindr of branda,
bið eg eirar Syn geira,
þann ber eg harm á hvarma
hvitvöllum mér, sitja.
Er jarðgöfugr, orðum,
orð mín konungr forðum
hafði, gramr, að gamni,
Geirhamdis mig framdi.

Það var enn eitt sinn er Egill gekk til elds að verma sig, þá spurði maður hann hvort honum væri kalt á fótum og bað hann eigi rétta of nær eldinum.

„Svo skal vera,“ segir Egill, „en eigi verður mér nú hógstýrt fótunum er eg sé eigi og er of dauflegt sjónleysið.“

Þá kvað Egill:

Langt þykir mér,
ligg eg einn saman,
karl afgamall,
á konungs vörnum.
Eigum ekkjur
alkaldar tvær
en þær konur
þurfa blossa.

Það var á dögum Hákonar hins ríka öndverðum, þá var Egill Skalla-Grímsson á níunda tigi og var hann þá hress maður fyrir annars sakir en sjónleysis.

Það var um sumarið er menn bjuggust til þings þá beiddi Egill Grím að ríða til þings með honum. Grímur tók því seinlega.

Og er þau Grímur og Þórdís töluðust við þá sagði Grímur henni hvers Egill hafði beitt „vil eg að þú forvitnist hvað undir mun búa bæn þessi.“

Þórdís gekk til máls við Egil frænda sinn. Var þá mest gaman Egils að ræða við hana. Og er hún hitti hann þá spurði hún: „Er það satt frændi er þú vilt til þings ríða? Vildi eg að þú segðir mér hvað væri í ráðagerð þinni.“

„Eg skal segja þér,“ kvað hann, „hvað eg hefi hugsað. Eg ætla að hafa til þings með mér kistur þær tvær er Aðalsteinn konungur gaf mér er hvortveggi er full af ensku silfri. Ætla eg að láta bera kisturnar til Lögbergs þá er þar er fjölmennast. Síðan ætla eg að sá silfrinu og þykir mér undarlegt ef allir skipta vel sín í milli. Ætla eg að þar mundi vera þá hrundningar eða pústrar eða bærist að um síðir að allur þingheimurinn berðist.“

Þórdís segir: „Þetta þykir mér þjóðráð og mun uppi meðan landið er byggt.“

Síðan gekk Þórdís til tals við Grím og sagði honum ráðagerð Egils.

„Það skal aldrei verða að hann komi þessu fram, svo miklum firnum.“

Og er Egill kom á ræður við Grím um þingferðina þá taldi Grímur það allt af og sat Egill heima um þingið. Eigi líkaði honum það vel. Var hann heldur ófrýnn.

Að Mosfelli var höfð selför og var Þórdís í seli um þingið.

Það var eitt kveld þá er menn bjuggust til rekkna að Mosfelli að Egill kallaði til sín þræla tvo er Grímur átti. Hann bað þá taka sér hest „vil eg fara til laugar.“

Og er Egill var búinn gekk hann út og hafði með sér silfurkistur sínar. Hann steig á hest, fór síðan ofan eftir túninu fyrir brekku þá er þar verður er menn sáu síðast.

En um morguninn er menn risu upp þá sáu þeir að Egill hvarflaði á holtinu fyrir austan garð[2] og leiddi eftir sér hestinn. Fara þeir þá til hans og fluttu hann heim.

En hvorki komu aftur síðan þrælarnir né kisturnar og eru þar margar gátur á hvar Egill hafi fólgið fé sitt. Fyrir austan garð að Mosfelli gengur gil ofan úr fjalli. En það hefir orðið þar til merkja að í bráðaþeyjum er þar vatnfall mikið en eftir það er vötnin hafa fram fallið hafa fundist í gilinu enskir peningar. Geta sumir menn þess að Egill muni þar féið hafa fólgið. Fyrir neðan tún að Mosfelli eru fen stór og furðulega djúp. Hafa það margir fyrir satt að Egill muni þar hafa kastað í fé sínu. Fyrir sunnan ána eru laugar og þar skammt frá jarðholur stórar og geta þess sumir að Egill mundi þar hafa fólgið fé sitt því að þangað er oftlega sénn haugaeldur. Egill sagði að hann hefði drepið þræla Gríms og svo það að hann hafði fé sitt fólgið, en það sagði hann engum manni hvar hann hefði fólgið.

Egill tók sótt eftir um haustið þá er hann leiddi til bana. En er hann var andaður þá lét Grímur færa Egil í klæði góð. Síðan lét hann flytja hann ofan í Tjaldanes og gera þar haug og var Egill þar í lagður og vopn hans og klæði.

Tilvísanir

  1. bergi fótar: “Egill Skalla-Grímsson is literally impotent, but mentally perhaps less so than many others of his age, since at least he is able to compose a skaldic poem about the limpness of his penis.” Ármann Jakobsson. The Specter of Old Age (p. 316).
  2. fyrir austan garð: „Svo var röm í [Agli] forneskjan, og má af því ráða að hann hafi trúað því að hann mundi nota silfursins dauður, ef hann græfi það í jörð. Tilgátan um, að hann hafi fólgið það í gilinu „fyrir austan garð at Mosfelli“ er því ekki ósennileg“ Árni Óla. Hvar fól Egill silfur Aðalsteins konungs (p. 183).

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