. The book of romance; . dsthe rope, but while doing so he was suddenly seized in astrong grip ; whereupon he let go the treasure and rushedat the Thing which lived in the barrow ; and now theyset on one another unsparingly enough. There wasa battle, first one, then the other gaining a slight advan-tage, but at last the barrow-wight fell over on his backwith a huge din; whereupon Grettir drew his sword, Jokuls gift, and cut off Karrs head, laying it besidethe thigh, for, in this way only, men said, could a ghostbe laid. Grettir took the treasure and brought it toThorfinn, who was not ill-pleas
. The book of romance; . dsthe rope, but while doing so he was suddenly seized in astrong grip ; whereupon he let go the treasure and rushedat the Thing which lived in the barrow ; and now theyset on one another unsparingly enough. There wasa battle, first one, then the other gaining a slight advan-tage, but at last the barrow-wight fell over on his backwith a huge din; whereupon Grettir drew his sword, Jokuls gift, and cut off Karrs head, laying it besidethe thigh, for, in this way only, men said, could a ghostbe laid. Grettir took the treasure and brought it toThorfinn, who was not ill-pleased that his fathers tombhad been rifled, for he held that wealth hidden in theground wr^s wealth wrongly placed, in which we shallprobably agree with him. After the events just described, Thorfinn went awaywith thirty of his men to one of his farms on the main-land, in order to keep the Yule-tide feast (Christmas).His wife and daughter, the latter of whom was ill in bed,remained at home. KowThorfinn, sometime previously,. STORY OF GRETTIR THE STRONG 365 had taken a leading part in passing a law, the object ofwhich was that all berserkers should be outlawed. Theseberserkers were roving bands of pirates, brave fighters,but respecting no mans property; on the contrary, theirchief object was to lay violent hands on women andgoods to which they had no title. It is easily to beunderstood that Thorfinn, in consequence of his action,had incurred their bitterest enmity. One day Grettirobserved a ship approaching, rowed by twelve men; itlanded near Thornfinns boatstand, wherein was his boatwhich was never launched by less than thirty men;nevertheless these twelve pushed it down to the watersedge, laid their own boat upon it, and bore it into theboatstand. Grettirs suspicions being aroused, he went down,and after giving them a hearty welcome, asked whothey were. The leader told him he was known asTliorir Paunch; that his brother was Ogmund, and therest fellows of theirs. Grettir told them
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