THE SCENE: A common fixture of Icelandic sagas is the way they open with genealogies of the protagonists ancestors. Sometimes this practice lends itself to wonderfully brief short stories like the one below, which tells you everything you need to know in less than 300 words.
THE TEXT: There was a man named Bjorn the Black, a berserk. He went around the country challenging men to fight with him if they refused to yield or accede to his demands. One winter, he arrived at Surnadal while Thorkel’s son Ari was taking care of the farm. Bjorn gave Ari a choice: either he fight him on the island of Stokkaholm in Surnadal or hand over his wife, Ingibjorg. Without hesitation, Ari decided that he would fight Bjorn rather than bring shame on himself or his wife. The duel was to take place three days later.
The time appointed for the duel arrive, and they fought – the result being that Ari fell and lost his life. Bjorn assumed he had won both the land and the woman, but Ari’s brother Gisli said that he would rather die than allow this to happen. He was determined to fight Bjorn.
Then Ingibjorg spoke, “I did not marry Ari because I preferred him to you. Kol, my slave, has a sword called Grasida (Grey-blade). You must ask him to lend it to you since whoever fights with it is assured of victory.”
Gisli asked the slave for the sword and Kol lent it to him, but with great reluctance.
Gisli prepared himself for the duel. They fought and Bjorn was slain. Gisli felt he had won a great victory, and it is said that he asked for Ingibjorg’s hand because he did not want the family to lose a good woman. So he married her, took over her property and became a powerful figure. Thereafter Gisli’s father died, and Gisli inherited all his wealth. Gisli saw to it that all the men who had come with Bjorn were put to death.
– Gisli Sursson’s Saga, 13th Century AD
