Grettir Cursed with Wood

79| Autumn passed until three weeks were left until winter. Then the crone asked to be taken down to the sea. Thorbjorn asked her what she wanted to do.

‘It’s a trifling errand,’ she said, ‘but it may portend greater tidings.’

He did as she requested and when she reached the shore she hobbled along by the sea as if following directions until she came to a tree lying there, a stub with the roots on, big enough to have to be carried on a man’s shoulders. She looked at the tree and asked the men to turn it over for her. The underside looked burnt and rubbed down. She made them scrape a flat surface where the tree had been rubbed, then took her knife and carved runes into the root, smeared them with her blood and recited spells. Then she walked backwards and wither-shins around it, and spoke many mighty pronouncements upon it.

After that she had the tree put to sea, pronouncing that it should drift out to Drangey – ‘and may it harm Grettir in every way.’

From there she went back home to Vidvik. Thorbjorn said he could not see the point of this, but the crone said he would certainly find out later. There was a wind blowing landwards along the fjord, but the crone’s tree set off against the wind and did not seem to travel any the slower for it.

Grettir was still in Drangey, as mentioned before, with his companions, and they were all feeling contented with their lot. The day after the old woman had put her spell on the tree, Grettir and the others went down the cliff to look for firewood. When they reached the west side of the island they found the tree with its roots, washed ashore.

Illugi said, ‘Here is plenty of firewood, kinsman. Let’s carry it back.’

Grettir kicked at it with his foot.

‘An evil tree by evil sent. We should find some other fire-wood,’ he said, throwing it out to sea.

He told Illugi to take care not to carry it back – ‘because it is sent to bring us bad fortune.’

After that they went back to their hut and did not mention the matter to Glaum. The following day they found the tree, closer to the ladder than before. Grettir put it back out to sea and said it should never be brought to where they lived. The night passed. A rainy gale got up and they did not feel like going outside, so they told Glaum to go and look for firewood. He complained at their cruelty in sending him out whenever the weather was bad. When he went down the ladder he found the old woman’s tree and thinking he had done well for himself, he picked it up, struggled back to the hut and threw it down with a great thud.

When Grettir heard this he said, ‘Glaum has found something. I’ll go out and see what it is,’ and he took his wood-axe and left.

Then Glaum said, ‘Don’t make a worse job of cutting it up than I did of bringing it back.’

Grettir lost his temper and swung his axe at the tree with both hands, without bothering to see what tree it was. And the moment the axe struck the tree it slid flat and glanced off into Grettir’s right leg above the knee, delivering a deep wound right to the bone.

Then he looked at the tree and said, ‘The more evil intent has proved the more powerful, and this will not be the only time. This tree here is the one that I have twice thrown back to sea. You have caused us misfortune twice now, Glaum, once when you let our fire go out and now that you have brought back this tree of ill fortune. If you have a third mishap it will be the death of you and all of us.’

Illugi dressed Grettir’s wound, which did not bleed much. Grettir slept well that night and three nights passed without the wound causing him any pain. When they undid the bandage, the cut had grown over so much that it was almost healed.

Then Illugi said, ‘I don’t expect that you will suffer from this wound very long.’

‘That would be a good thing,’ said Grettir, ‘but this has been a strange incident, however it turns out, and I have an intuition that it will be otherwise.’

80| They lay down to sleep that evening and in the middle of the night Grettir began thrashing about. Illugi asked him why he was restless.

Grettir told him that his leg was hurting – ‘and more likely than not it has changed colour.’

They kindled a light and when they undid the bandage his leg looked swollen and black as coal, and the wound had split open and looked much nastier than before. It caused him such great pain that he could not keep still or sleep a wink.

Then Grettir said, ‘This was only to be expected, for the sickness I have contracted is not without reason; it is the work of sorcery. The crone intends it to avenge the rock I threw at her.’

Illugi said, ‘I told you that no good would come of that old crone.’

‘Everything will end up the same way,’ said Grettir, and he spoke five verses:


- The Saga of Grettir the Strong (Grettis saga Ásmundarsonar)