ons, as it
afterwards appeared. She was on a friendly footing with an English
priest called Richard, who had a welcome to the house of her brothers,
and on account of their friendship for him she did many things to please
him, and often to his advantage; but the end of all this was, that an
ugly report flew about concerning this girl. When this came into the
mouth of the public all men threw the blame on the priest. Her brothers
did the same, and expressed publicly, as soon as they observed it, that
they laid the blame most on him. The great friendship that was between
the earl and the priest proved a great misfortune to both, which might
have been expected, as the brothers were silent about their secret
determination, and let nothing be observed. But one day they called the
priest to them, who went, expecting nothing but good from them; enticed
him from home with them, saying that they intended to go to another
district, where they had some needful business, and inviting him to go
with them. They had with them a farm-servant who knew their purpose.
They went in a boat along the shore of a lake which is called Rands
lake, and landed at a ness called Skiptisand, where they went on shore
and amused themselves awhile. Then they went to a retired place, and
commanded their servant-man to strike the priest with an axe-hammer.
He struck the priest so hard that he swooned; but when he recovered he
said, "Why are ye playing so roughly with me?" They replied, "Although
nobody has told thee of it before, thou shalt now find the consequence
of what thou hast done." They then upbraided him; but he denied their
accusations, and besought God and the holy King Olaf to judge between
them. Then they broke his leg-bones, and dragged him bound to the forest
with them; and then they put a string around his head, and put a board
under his head and shoulders, and made a knot on the string, and bound
his head fast to the board. Then the elder brother, Einar, took a wedge,
and put it on the priest's eye, and the servant who stood beside him
struck upon it with an axe, so that the eye flew out, and fell upon the
board. Then he set the pin upon the other eye, and said to the servant,
"Strike now more softly." He did so, and the wedge sprang from the
eye-stone, and tore the eyelid loose. Then Einar took up the eyelid in
his hand, and saw that the eye-stone was still in its place; and he set
the wedge on the cheek, and when the servant struck it the