never pursued nor defended from that day forth. Hrut said, as
soon as he got inside the booth, “This has never happened to me
before, that any man has offered me combat and I have shunned
it.”
“Then thou must mean to fight,” says Hauskuld, “but that shall
not be if I have my way; for thou comest no nearer to Gunnar than
Mord would have come to thee, and we had better both of us pay up
the money to Gunnar.”
After that the brothers asked the householders of their own
country what they would lay down, and they one and all said they
would lay down as much as Hrut wished.
“Let us go then,” says Hauskuld, “to Gunnar’s booth, and pay down
the money out of hand.” That was told to Gunnar, and he went out
into the doorway of the booth, and Hauskuld said, “Now it is
thine to take the money.”
Gunnar said, “Pay it down, then, for I am ready to take it.”
So they paid down the money truly out of hand, and then Hauskuld
said, “Enjoy it now, as thou hast gotten it.” Then Gunnar sang
another stave: —
“Men who wield the blade of battle
Hoarded wealth may well enjoy,
Guileless gotten this at least,
Golden meed I fearless take;
But if we for woman’s quarrel,
Warriors born to brandish sword,
Glut the wolf with manly gore,
Worse the lot of both would be.”
Hrut answered, “III will be thy meed for this.”
“Be that as it may,” says Gunnar.
Then Hauskuld and his brother went home to their booth, and he
had much upon his mind, and said to Hrut, “Will this unfairness
of Gunnar’s never be avenged?”
“Not so,” says Hrut; “‘twill be avenged on him sure enough, but
we shall have no share nor profit in that vengeance. And after
all it is most likely that he will turn to our stock to seek for
friends.”
After that they left off speaking of the matter. Gunnar showed
Njal the money, and he said, “The suit has gone off well.”
“Ay,” says Gunnar, “but it was all thy doing.”
Now men rode home from the Thing, and Gunnar got very great
honour from the suit. Gunnar handed over all the money to Unna,
and would have none of it, but said he thought he ought to look
more for help from her and her kin hereafter than from other men.
She said, so it should be.
25. UNNA’S SECOND WEDDING
There was a man named Valgard, he kept house at Hof by Rangriver,
he was the son of Jorund the Priest, and his brother was Wolf
Aurpriest (1). Those brothers, Wolf Aurpriest, and Valgard the
Guileful, set off to woo Unna, and she gave herself away to
Valgard without the advice of any of her kinsfolk. But Gunnar
