THE SCENE: A tragic naval disaster (which was brought about by a seal with human eyes) gives way to a legal farce, after a relative of the deceased seeks to claim his inheritance through an argument that is as morbid as it is dishonest.
THE TEXT: They sailed into an area of currents and into a tide-race known as Kolkistustraum, the strongest of the currents in Breidafjord. They were in the narrows, but the boat could make little headway because of the raging current against them; then they drove onto a submerged reef, but without wrecking the boat.
Thorstein ordered the sail to be struck as quickly as possible and then told his men to use poles to push the boat off. They tried this but failed, because the water on either side was so deep that the poles could not reach bottom; so they had to wait for the tide to rise, and meanwhile the water was ebbing away from under the boat.
Throughout the day they saw an enourmous seal swimming in the current; it circled the boat all day. It had huge flippers, and everyone thought its eyes were those of a human. Thorstein told his men to harpoon the seal, but all their attempts failed.
Then the tide began to rise, but just as the boat was about to be refloated, a violent gust of wind broke upon them and the boat keeled over. Everyone on board was drowned, except for one man called Gudmund who was washed ashore.
Thorkel Fringe at once sent for this man Gudmund, the sole survivor; and when they met, Thorkel made a secret deal with him to give an account of the drownings in the way that Thorkel dictated. Gudmund agreed to do this, and then Thorkel asked him in the presence of witnesses to describe what had happened. So now Gudmund said that the first to drown was Thorsteing Black, followed by his son-in-law Thorarin; this would make little Hild the heir, for she was Thorarin’s daughter. Then he said that the girl was the next to die, followed by her mother Osk (who would have inherited from her daughter), and that Osk was the last to drown. This meant that the estate should all revert to Thorkel Fringe, for his wife Gudrid was heir to her sister Osk.
– Laxdaela Saga, 13th Century AD
