Chapter 11
Hakon awakened early the next morning, and so strong was his Viking constitution that he felt no discomfort from the tremendous amount he had drunk the night before. He arose full of good spirits, enjoying his feast, and immediately set out to renew the festivities.
He tapped lightly upon his wife's door, but receiving no response he assumed she was still asleep, so he turned out Astrid and Gunnar, who were awake and ready to resume the celebrations.
They all went down into the hall, where other guests were already stirring. Hakon called for his servants and told them to prepare a huge breakfast, and when the meat was sizzling he summoned his overseer, the bold Kol.
"Kol, here is what I want you to do! Breakfast is fast cooking, and another splendid day of revelry lies before us! Go around to all my guests and awaken them, so we may start another round of partying!"
So Kol went out to rouse the company, while Hakon saw to it that there were ice-cold pitchers of small-beer to quench the guests' morning thirst.
Kol went around to all the buildings and knocked loudly, saying, "Breakfast now sizzles over the fire, and cold small-beer is waiting! Rouse up now and put on your fine clothing, for my master bids you come to the hall and continue the feasting!"
The guests arose in good cheer, and soon they were streaming into the hall, laughing and shouting, looking forward to a good breakfast and another day of festive feasting. The last door Kol came to was that of the building in which were the Rolfsons and Ingrid. He knocked loud at the door, but none answered.
"Wake up, worthy guests!" he shouted. "Good food is piping hot in my master's kitchens, and he bids you come greet another day of celebrations with him! Do not worry if your heads are clouded from last night's ale horns, for there is ice-cold small-beer to bring you back into partying spirits!"
But still there was no answer, so Kol pushed at the door. It yielded only a foot or less, and Kol peeked inside to see what was the obstruction. Against the door was the body of the farmer Bjorn, and Kol gasped and looked around.
The three Rolfsons were shaking themselves out of their sleep, and Kol gaped in amazement as he saw Ingrid's sleeping body lying naked among them. Seeing instantly what had happened, Kol was seized with a fury, and he screamed at the three brothers.
"You ungrateful bastards! You are invited to a splendid feast by my master, and this is how you betray him!" He leaped through the door and snatched up the fallen Bjorn's sword. "You cocksucking swine shall pay for this!" he cried.
After Olaf had slain Bjorn the night before, he had come to bed with his sword still unsheathed, and it was lying beneath them, still naked and bloody. Egil now snatched up that blade, and being on the floor, he came in under Kol's guard and dealt him a fatal blow in the belly. Kol dropped his sword and backed out the door.
Holding the edges of his wound together, Kol set his jaw and walked unsteadily into the hall, where Hakon was sitting with Gunnar on the high-seat, eating his morning meal.
"Hello, loyal Kol!" Hakon greeted him. "Have you aroused all of my guests?"
"Indeed, none have been overlooked!" Kol declared. "And some were summoned who should have been left sleeping, for I have received my death-stroke from it!"
And with these words Kol opened his slashed shirt and showed his gaping belly wound to Hakon, who started up in amazement and rage.
"Who has done this to you?" Hakon demanded. "And for what reason?"
"My killer was your neighbor Egil Rolfson," Kol related. "And he struck at me because I expressed anger that he and his brothers had spent the night gang-banging your faithless wife, the cursed Ingrid Briansdottir! May she burn in Hell for the horror she has released upon this house and this feast!"
With these words Kol fell dead below the high-seat, and everyone was astonished at this turn of events. Hakon ran upstairs himself to see if Ingrid was in her bed, and finding her chamber absent, he strapped on his arms and shouted for his kinsmen and his neighbors to arm themselves and join him in avenging this terrible insult.
When all were armed Gunnar and Hakon led them out to the house where the Rolfsons were. Having now had time to arm themselves, the brutal brothers were now fully armed and outside the door, waiting to be attacked.
Bold Hakon was beside himself with rage. "You shit-eating sons of cock-sucking whores!" he raged. "Is this the way you return the honor I have shown you by inviting you to my feast and being your host? I demand that you surrender yourselves to me at once!" But Egil Rolfson answered, "If you can't control your cock-crazy wife, don't blame me and my brothers! You have such a reputation for being a generous host, that we thought Ingrid's offer was just another example of your hospitality!"
These impudent words did not serve to sooth Hakon's temper, and he would have attacked them right then, but Gunnar wanted to try once more to achieve a settlement.
"Listen to me, Rolfsons!" Gunnar said. "If we have to attack you here, many will die, for you are all valiant warriors, and indeed your own lives cannot but be forfeit in the end, for there are many here against your three!"
"I can count as well as you, Gunnar!" Egil said. "What kind of settlement do you offer?"
Gunnar and Hakon's uncle Grim was also present at this feast, so the three of them went aside to discuss terms.
"Hakon, you must realize Ingrid was in some part to blame for this!" Gunnar said. Then he quickly told his kinsman the story of how Ingrid had attempted to seduce him the night before, and this did not serve to mitigate Hakon's temper.
Gunnar and Grim discussed a settlement while Hakon walked back and forth brandishing his sword. It was clear that he preferred to fight it out.
Finally Gunnar went back and said, "Egil, here is what we are prepared to settle for. You must pay two hundred ounces of silver for slaying Hakon's overseer Kol. And for copulating with Hakon's wife, you must pay a hundred ounces apiece, and if you do not, then you are to be outlaws, and your lives and property are to be forfeit to Hakon!"
When Egil Rolfson heard this, he laughed, swore, and spat on the ground. "It is bad enough that you expect me to pay compensation for Kol, since he attacked us first! But it is unthinkable that we should have to pay for the services of a slut who offered her cunt to us and begged us to fuck it! If Hakon means to set himself up as a pimp that is his business, but as is usual with arrogant men, he has set his sights too high! I declare, I could have all the whores in Iceland and not pay a hundred ounces!"
These remarks infuriated all the people of Hakon and Gunnar's household. Several of Hakon's men now stepped forward and asked permission to attack the Rolfsons.
"Please do so, and be quick about it!" Hakon said. "I shall hang heavy chains of gold around the necks of the men who bring me these bastards' heads!"
With this encouragement, six of Hakon's retainers unsheathed their swords and rushed up to attack the Rolfsons.
One of the men attacked Olaf, the slayer of Bjorn. Olaf raised his shield and warded off the blow. Then he stepped up and swung his sword, and the man fell dead with a wound in the neck.
Two men tried to take Glum Rolfson, who carried no shield but had a spear in one hand and a sword in the other. One of the men swung his sword, but Glum parried with his own blade, and then threw his spear. The spear went through the man's waist, and he fell dead.
The other man came at Glum and thought he would have an easy time of it since Glum had no shield and only one weapon, but he did not count on the man's grim determination. Glum hefted his sword with two hands, and sliced through Hakon's man's shield, so that the point of his sword went through the man's ribs and gave him his death-stroke.
"Well done, my brothers!" Egil laughed. "These snooty aristocrats think they have the Rolf-sons with their backs to the wall, but we shall see how long it takes them to subdue us!"
Then three armed men ran at Egil Rolfson, intending to end forever his taunting boasts. Instead of a sword, Egil always carried an enormous battle-ax, and it was his boast that this ax had killed many men for whom he had not paid one penny of compensation.
Egil did not wait for the men to come to him, but ran out to meet them, swinging his huge ax two-handed. The first man raised his shield to ward off the blow, but the ax split the shield in two, and the upper horn of the blade cleaved through the man's mail and bit into his heart.
The second man carried a spear, and now he threw it at Egil, but Egil leaped high into the air and the spear passed beneath him. Then he rushed forward, his ax raised. The man parried with his sword and then aimed a stroke at Egil's leg, but Egil avoided that blow and followed it with his own. His ax-stroke severed the man's arm at the shoulder, and the man gasped and fell dead.
The third man, a kinsman of the second, was now filled with the blood-lust, and he threw himself at Egil. It was this man who gave Egil his first wound, because his sword went over Egil's guard and cut him in the shoulder. But the eldest Rolfson continued to swing his great ax single-handed, and had soon given the man a death-blow in the chest.
"This is not going well for us!" said Grim, looking at the dead men piled around the Rolfsons' feet.
"I agree!" said Gunnar. "Clearly lesser men will never be able to finish these three off! Hakon, take up your arms, for we are going to go into battle for the honor of our kin!"
Now when the company learned that Gunnar and Hakon were going to attack many of them pressed forward, for no small number of them wanted to be remembered for having gone into battle with these two famous heroes.
Now Ingrid had been hiding inside the building, listening to all that went on, and now she showed herself in the door. People gasped at the sight of her, for she was still stark naked, and the curdling spew of many ejaculations ran down her chin and legs.
So great now was Ingrid's hatred against Gunnar, Hakon and their kin that she went to great lengths to try to inflame their enemies against them.
"Hear me, Rolfsons!" she cried. "If you win out against Hakon and his kinsmen, this is what I shall do for you! I shall let you take me back to my father Brian of the Orkneys, and I shall tell him that when you found out who I was, you took me from my abductors at great peril and carried me home to him! He will be so grateful, he will heap red gold in front of you, and give you broad lands to govern, and he will make you the highest among his retainers, and you shall spend the rest of your lives in great honor and glory in his court! And you, Egil Rolfson, will I take to husband, so that when my father dies, you shall rule the Orkneys with me as your queen!"
When Egil and his brothers heard this, they were greatly inflamed and they resolved to fight to the death to try to get away from Hakon and his kin.
Now Grim thought it was a terrible thing that these three low-born brothers should threaten the honor of his kin in this way, and forgetting all caution, he threw himself at the Rolfsons, swinging his great sword around his head.
"You infamous bastards shall not live to profit from the offer the unfaithful Ingrid has just made you!" he thundered. Charging forward, he engaged Olaf Rolfson in battle.
Grim swung his sword, but Olaf parried. Then Olaf aimed his own stroke, but Grim caught it on his shield. Then Grim swung again, and his stroke shattered Olaf's shield.
"Now you will surely die for the dishonor you have showed my kinsmen!" Grim said. He pressed closer, thrusting the point of his blade at Olaf's unguarded chest.
Olaf parried the first blow with his sword, and swung a counter-stroke. But Grim took that blow on his shield, and aimed another of his own. His sword whirled in a flat arc, and cleaved through Olaf's neck, sending his head flying into the dirt at his brothers' feet.
All of Hakon's kin and friends cheered to see Olaf struck down, but Egil was enraged. He leaped forward with his broad ax and swung it with both hands, making the air whistle past the blade. Grim raised his shield but it was too late, and Egil's ax swung above it and dealt Grim a fatal blow in the upper chest.
"Take that, slayer of my brother!" Egil panted. "I won't have to seek any compensation for that killing!"
Grim staggered backward and fell into the arms of Hakon and Gunnar. "I have reduced them by a third, but it has cost me my life!" the seasoned warrior sighed. "The rest is up to you!" And with that Grim closed his eyes and died.
Now Gunnar and Hakon were severely enraged by this slaying of their uncle, close kinsman to both their fathers, and they gripped their weapons firmly and stepped up to do battle with Egil and Glum, the surviving Rolfsons.
"Look at this, my brother!" Egil laughed. "We have finally forced them to bring out their best! They thought we could be overcome by retainers and old relatives, but finally the heroic warriors themselves are ready to do battle!"
Hakon and Gunnar refused to let themselves be taunted by these words, and they advanced slowly, their hearts smoldering with hatred.
"I urge you not to yield an inch to them!" Ingrid coaxed. "I am sorry your brave brother has fallen, but that only means that you shall enjoy all the greater glory when you take me to Orkney and return me to my father! Not only will he richly compensate you for your fallen kinsman, but the rewards you two shall share will be all the greater for his absence!"
These words were a great encouragement to Egil and Glum, and Ingrid went even further.
"And you, Egil, who has known my charms here tonight! Wouldn't you like to spend the rest of your life sleeping with me, feeling the good sensations of your cock ejaculating inside my sweet, tight little cunt?!"
Bold Hakon had born as many insults as his manhood could absorb, and now he was ready for battle to the death. He sprang forward, his sword swinging, and Glum sprang forward to meet him.
Their first encounter made the hills ring with the sounds of battle. Hakon swung his sword, and Glum parried. Then Glum attacked and Hakon warded off the blow. Glum followed immediately with another stroke, but Hakon took that one on his shield and then aimed another of his own.
Ingrid and Egil stood behind watching this battle, and Ingrid had this to say: "Hakon will fight like a madman now that I have offered myself to you! Why don't you go out and see if you can help your brother kill my husband?"
Just then Hakon took a blow on his shield and then aimed a sword-stroke at Glum, and this is how Glum was wounded. Glum parried the blow as best he could, but the blade glanced off and cut him badly on the face, and soon blood was streaming down his eye.
"A true blow!" Gunnar applauded. "Now that he is half-blinded, you will soon finish him off, Hakon!"
"Even so, it will still take more than words to kill me!" Glum boasted. He swung a mighty blow, and his sword shattered Hakon's shield. Now Hakon fought with only his sword, and Glum had both sword and shield, even though he could see only out of one eye.
Glum rushed forward while Hakon was still off balance, and his next stroke gave Hakon a wound on the leg. Hakon staggered but he did not fall, and he immediately swung his sword two-handed and made Glum retreat a step.
Both men were now thoroughly enraged and they traded strokes with great heat, until the air was echoing with ringing steel.
Swinging his sword with both hands Hakon aimed a low blow intended to sweep Glum's leg away, but Glum leaped into the air and the blow did not strike him. When Glum's feet came back to the ground he was already unleashing a great downward stroke of his sword, aimed for Hakon's neck.
Having no shield, Hakon parried the blow with his sword, and his arms shivered in their sockets from the force of the blow. Then Hakon pulled back his sword and thrust forward with all his might. Glum caught the stroke on his shield, but so powerful was Hakon's stroke that the blade penetrated Glum's shield and gave him a bad wound in the chest.
But Glum stayed on his feet, and he shook his shield so violently that Hakon's sword came out of his hand. Then Glum threw the shield away with Hakon's sword stuck through it and attacked the unarmed Hakon with his sword.
"Now we shall see who is going to finish who off here!" Glum panted, pressing the hapless Hakon.
Glum aimed a blow that was to have been Hakon's death-stroke, but at that moment Hakon stumbled over the body of his uncle Grim, and as he fell Glum's stroke whistled harmlessly past his ear.
"That's bad luck!" Egil observed. "But now you have him on the ground, and he must surely die!"
"This will be man's work, indeed!" Ingrid panted, leaning forward to watch her husband die.
But Hakon's hand had fallen on the hilt of old Grim's sword, and while Glum was still off balance from the great blow he had swung, Hakon swung the sword upward in a sweeping arc and delivered a deadly blow to Glum's entrails.
Glum gasped and turned toward his brother. "This has not turned out as well as I might have hoped!" he said. "It is up to you to avenge me now, brother!" And then he fell dead on his face.
Hakon was still on his knees, and his back was to Egil. Before anyone else could move, Egil leaped forward bellowing with rage. He swung his mighty ax from behind Hakon's back, and struck off brave Hakon's head with a single blow.
"Vengeance is yours, my brother!" Egil sang. "With both my brothers dead, my back is now bare, and it behooves my honor to take with me to my grave as many of these warriors as I can slay!"
Hakon charged into the crowd swinging his ax like a berserker, and one man fell dead instantly from its brutal strokes.
Then Gunnar's commanding voice rang out. "Everyone else stand back!" he warned. "This is now between Egil and me!"
The others fell back and Egil and Gunnar faced each other. Egil held his great bloody ax, and Gunnar threw away his shield and grabbed up a spear, holding his sword in the other hand.
"To think that so many men must die over the faithlessness of a stinking whore!" Egil said. "But my brothers and I could not ask for better deaths, doing battle with famous heroes! Be on your guard bold Gunnar, for I mean to kill you if I can, even knowing your kinsmen and neighbors shall surely slay me before the sun has set!"
"He who talks does not fight!" Gunnar taunted. He pulled back his arm and let fly with the sharp spear, and his aim was true. But Egil leaped into the air and the spear passed under him, driving into the ground.
Egil put his ax in his left hand and snatched up the spear. He took a good aim and sent the spear flying, but Gunnar leaped aside and caught the spear in flight. He at once hurled it back, and it caught Egil in the leg, dealing him a great wound.
But Egil kept his feet, and now he charged at Gunnar, his powerful two-edged ax whirling around his head. He launched a mighty blow at Gunnar's neck, but Gunnar raised his sword and warded off the blow, and then aimed a stroke of his own.
Egil parried that blow with his ax, and then swung a low blow directed at Gunnar's knees. But Gunnar jumped high and the blow passed beneath him, and he followed immediately with a stroke of his own.
Egil parried the stroke with his ax-handle, but the blow was so powerful it swept him off his feet, and Gunnar's people cheered. But Ingrid had been watching all this with horror, and now her hatred of Gunnar exceeded all bounds.
"May the trolls drag you down to the darkest corner of Hell!" the evil woman screamed at Gunnar. She grabbed up the sword of the slain Olaf and rushed forward, intending to strike a deadly blow at Gunnar's unguarded back.
The people were shocked to see such warlike behavior from a woman, but Astrid knew her sister well enough to have been expecting something like this. Gunnar's blonde wife had already retrieved dead Hakon's sword, and now she ran out from the side and swung the blade at Ingrid.
"Leave my husband be, you ungrateful slut!" bold Astrid cried. "My sister you may be, but your evil schemes and seductions have been the death of many good men, and I can stand to see no more of it!"
Ingrid swerved off from her attack on Gunnar and now faced her sister, both of them raising the heavy swords.
Turning her full wrath on her sister, the evil Ingrid snarled these words: "Fuck you, you stinking little cunt! If it hadn't been for you, brave Gunnar would have been my husband, and I would have married the most famous man in all the North! You think you have made yourself a great match, but neither of you shall enjoy it after today!"
Then Ingrid hurled herself at Astrid, swinging Olaf's blade. But Astrid parried the blow, and swung one of her own. Ingrid tried to guard herself, but Astrid's blade glanced off hers and gave her a great gash in the shoulder.
This wound only enraged Ingrid further, and now she swung her sword in dead earnest, doubling her strokes, but the brave Astrid stood her ground and parried every stroke, until the wounded Ingrid was almost exhausted.
Then the cunning Ingrid tried another tack. Lowering her sword, she said, "Listen, Astrid, why should sisters be fighting each other? Let us both go and guard Egil's back while he finishes off Gunnar, and then we can both return to the Orkneys! Our father will welcome us with open arms, and we will be free from these brutal Icelanders and their endless fighting!"
But these words hardly served to soften Astrid's heart. "You really are a faithless bitch, my sister!" Astrid said. "How should I enter into an agreement with you, when you have never yet kept faith with any pledge you have made? No, my sister, even though I have little love left for our father, I do not hate him badly enough to send you back to him!: Better you should die here by my hands than continue to besmirch the proud name we hold in common!"
With these words the beautiful Astrid leaped forward, splendid in her fury. "Let your dead husband's blade now take the revenge he so richly deserves from you!" she cried.
The valiant Astrid aimed a mighty blow, and before Ingrid could even raise her blade Hakon's sword in Astrid's hands gave her a fatal wound in the breast.
Ingrid staggered back, her life-blood pouring from her heart.
"You have done me to death just as you promised, sister!" the faithless woman sobbed. "I cannot blame you really, for many good men have gone to their graves because of me! But it grieves me to think of the honor you shall get from this deed!" And so saying, the famous beauty Princess Ingrid Briansdottir fell dead at her sister's feet.
"I wish I could feel sorry for what I have done," Astrid said, "but many needless deaths have now been avenged by this death-blow I have just struck!"
While all this was going on Egil had regained his feet, and seeing that everyone was watching Astrid and the dying Ingrid, Egil took advantage of the distraction by aiming a blow at Gunnar's back. But Gunnar caught the motion out of the tail of his eye, and he turned and warded off the ox-blow with his sword.
Now the two powerful men fell to fighting again, and it was with the desperation born of certain death that Egil now delivered his blows.
"I have seen both of my brothers die here today, and I have lost forever a chance to see my descendants sitting on the throne of the Orkney Islands!" Egil panted.
"Your losses are no greater than mine!" Gunnar assured his enemy. "I have seen the deaths of my kinsman Hakon, one of the finest men in Iceland, and of my uncle Grim, a famous hero in his own right, as well as many of their loyal retainers! Nor were these bold kinsmen killed in glorious battle for gold and booty, but were slain on their own property by their invited guests, who had been made murderous by the wiles of a sluttish woman!"
And so the two joined in battle again, and those present swore they had never seen such desperate fighting.
Egil swung his mighty ax, and the blow seemed aimed for Gunnar's neck. But Gunnar raised his sword and warded off the stroke, and then launched one of his own. Egil leaped out of the way, and his ax whirled again, this time aimed at Gunnar's leg.
Gunnar parried that blow too, and then tried to ram his sword-tip into Egil's chest. But Egil battered the sword away with his ax, and then swung for Gunnar's head.
Gunnar leapt away, and then countered immediately with a stroke that dealt Egil another wound, when the blade went under Egil's ax and cut a long gash in his side.
"I felt that stroke," Egil admitted. "But it is not the blow you hoped it would be, for I am still alive and fighting!"
"I never thought you would die easily," Gunnar said, "for you are known to be a strong man who hates to yield!"
Egil lowered his head and charged Gunnar, his ax swinging dangerously over his head. Gunnar gave ground and parried the blow, and then followed with a mighty stroke of his own. Egil only managed to escape this stroke by the breadth of a hair, and now he gave ground, keeping his ax up on guard.
Now Gunnar went on the attack, and his sword-strokes fell so fast it looked like two men fighting as one. Egil parried as best he could, retreating until his back was up against the wall of the barn.
Now Gunnar swung his sword around his head until the air was whistling with its whir, and then he delivered a stunning blow at Egil's midsection. Egil caught the stroke on his ax, but the blade of Gunnar's sword bit deeply into the handle, cutting it almost half in two.
"Now that is a very bad sign!" Egil said. "For I have carried this ax for years and slain uncountable men with it, but never have I known it to receive such a blow as this one!"
So saying, Egil grabbed his ax in both hands and swung it wide, meaning to deal Gunnar a blow he could not parry. But Gunnar held his ground, taking the blow on his sword. The force of the stroke shivered Gunnar's arms up to the shoulders, and the blade of his famous sword splintered into a thousand pieces, leaving him with the jeweled hilt in his hands.
"That was a blow that served me well!" Egil said. "Perhaps I may win further honor yet before I die!" And Egil lunged at Gunnar, hoping to kill him quickly while he was unarmed. But Gunnar flung the handle of his sword into Egil's face, making him flinch for just a second.
Gunnar leaped forward, catching the handle of Egil's ax in his hand. He pulled hard at the ax, and Egil pulled back, and then the broken handle came completely in two, and the broad ax-head fell useless to the ground.
Gunnar closed quickly. Grabbing Egil by the shoulder and the groin, he picked the big man up over his head and threw him violently to the ground. Egil landed with a grunt, and Gunnar was instantly on top of him.
But Egil wasn't finished yet. Reaching down into his boot, he produced a small, sharp dagger, and he thrust this weapon at Gunnar's neck. Gunnar avoided the blow, and caught the hand that held the knife.
Egil smashed his free hand into Gunnar's face, making the blood flow from his nose. Kicking hard with his legs, Egil managed to roll over on top of Gunnar, and now Gunnar caught the knife-hand in both his powerful fists.
"This contest is not settled yet!" Egil grunted. "My tiny sliver of cold steel may yet win fame for me here!"
Now Gunnar gave all his attention to the knife. Egil used his free hand to batter and smash Gunnar's face, but the valiant Viking ignored these blows.
Gunnar clamped one iron fist around Egil's wrist, and grasped near the elbow with the other. Then Gunnar exerted his enormous strength, and began bending the bones of Egil's lower arm. Egil gasped with pain and reached for Gunnar's eye, but Gunnar turned his head away and continued to exert tremendous pressure. Finally the people heard cracking noises like green sticks being broken, and Egil screamed and dropped the knife, his lower arm broken at right angles by Gunnar's enormous power.
Then Gunnar gave a great twist, and slipped out from under Egil. Holding his shattered arm to his chest, Egil tried to crawl away, but Gunnar leaped on his back and locked Egil's neck in the crook of his arm.
"I have fought the best battle I could!" Egil choked. "In all truth, Gunnar, you have done deeds here that will long be remembered! Better I should die at the hands of a hero than live in cowardice and find my death in bed!"
"I have never killed with my bare hands before!" Gunnar panted. "But now that I feel your neck locked in my grasp, all I can remember is the sight of you striking off my kinsman Hakon's head when his back was turned to you!"
And with these words Gunnar put his knee into Egil's back and pulled sharply back on his head, so that Egil's neck snapped with a sound like a spear-shaft breaking, and the strong warrior shivered violently and then died.
After that the fighting was over with. Gunnar ordered all the dead laid out together, and raised a huge mound up over them. There was great mourning throughout all the district, for many men of note had died there, as well as Princess Ingrid. Gunnar would not allow her to be buried with the rest, but had her put under a small mound next to the dung-pile, and over the years people came to believe this evil woman had been a great witch, and some claimed that she got up and walked every year on the anniversary of the fatal feast.
With Grim and Hakon both dead, Gunnar inherited all their property, and became the most important man in the district. Gunnar was then a very rich man, and after awhile he decided to make a settlement with King Brian of the Orkneys. So he sent a trusted kinsman to Brian with many chests of gold and other treasure, and had him tell the king all that had happened.
King Brian accepted the gold and gave forgiveness to Gunnar and Astrid, and when their first son was born they sent him to the Orkneys to learn the craft of kingship. They had many other sons and daughters as well, and all the famous people of the district are now their descendants.