nd then
dealings between heathen men and Christians became scarcely free of
danger. [Sidenote: Thangbrand returns from Iceland] Sundry chiefs even
took counsel together to slay Thangbrand, as well as such men who
should stand up for him. Because of this turmoil Thangbrand ran away
to Norway, and came to meet King Olaf, and told him the tidings of
what had befallen in his journey, and said he thought Christianity
would never thrive in Iceland. The king was very wroth at this, and
said that many Icelanders would rue the day unless they came round to
him. That summer Hjalti Skeggjason was made an outlaw at the Thing for
blaspheming the gods. Runolf Ulfson, who lived in Dale, under
Isles'-fells, the greatest of chieftains, upheld the lawsuit against
him. That summer Gizor left Iceland and Hjalti with him, and they came
to Norway, and went forthwith to find King Olaf. The king gave them a
good welcome, and said they had taken a wise counsel; he bade them
stay with him, and that offer they took with thanks. Sverling, son of
Runolf of Dale, had been in Norway that winter, and was bound for
Iceland in the summer. His ship was floating beside the landing stage
all ready, only waiting for a wind. The king forbade him to go away,
and said that no ships should go to Iceland that summer. Sverling went
to the king and pleaded his case, and begged leave to go, and said it
mattered a great deal to him, that they should not have to unship
their cargo again. The king spake, and then he was wroth: "It is well
for the son of a sacrificer to be where he likes it worst." So
Sverling went no whither. That winter nothing to tell of befell. The
next summer the king sent Gizor and Hjalti Skeggjason to Iceland to
preach the faith anew, and kept four men back as hostages Kjartan
Olafson, Halldor, the son of Gudmund the Mighty, Kolbein, son of Thord
the priest of Frey, and Sverling, son of Runolf of Dale. [Sidenote: Of
Ingibjorg the king's sister] Bolli made up his mind to journey with
Gizor and Hjalti, and went to Kjartan, his kinsman, and said, "I am
now ready to depart; I should wait for you through the next winter, if
next summer you were more free to go away than you are now. But I
cannot help thinking that the king will on no account let you go free.
I also take it to be the truth that you yourself call to mind but few
of the things that afford pastime in Iceland when you sit talking to
Ingibjorg, the king's sister." She was at the court of Ki