THE SCENE: The competition gets intense when Gisli plays ball against his brother-in-law Thorgrim. But it’s only after Thorgrim insults the memory of Gisli’s dead friend Vestein that things really heat up.
THE TEXT: Gisli and his brother-in-law, Thorgrim, usually played against each other. There was some disagreement as to who was the stronger, but most people thought it was Gisli. They played a ball game at Seftjorn pond and there was always a large crowd.
They started the game and Thorgrim was outmatched. Gisli brought him down and the ball went out of play. Then Gisli went for the ball, but Thorgrim held him back and stopped him from getting it. Then Gisli tackled Thorgrim so hard that he could do nothing to stop falling. His knuckles were grazed, blood rushed from his nose and the flesh was scraped from his knees. Thorgrim rose very slowly, looked towards Vestein’s burial mound, and said:
“Spear screeched his wound
Sorely – I cannot be sorry.”
Running, Gisli took the ball and pitched it between Thorgrim’s shoulder-blades. The blow pushed him flat on his face. Then Gisli said:
“Ball smashed his shoulders
Broadly – I cannot be sorry.”
The games drew to a close, summer wore on, and there was a growing coldness between Thorgrim and Gisli.
– Gisli Sursson’s Saga, 13th Century AD
