THE SCENE: When Eyjolf asked Aud to betray her husband, the famous outlaw Gisli Sursson, he must not have forgotten that he was dealing with a woman whose reputation for tough-mindedness rivaled that of her husband.
THE TEXT: Eyjolf wanted to go and see Aud. They reached the farmhouse and went in, where Eyjolf say down to talk to Aud, and these were his words – “I want to make a deal with you, Aud,” he said. “You tell me where Gisli is and I will give you three hundred pieces of silver, which I have received as the price on his head. In addition, I will arrange a marriage for you that will be superior in every way to this one.”
This was her reply: “I don’t expect,” she said, “that we’ll reach agreement on your ability to find me as good a match as this one. Yet, it’s true what they say, ‘death’s best consolation is wealth,’ so let me see whether this silver is as plentiful or as fine as you say.” So he poured the silver into her lap, and she held it there while he counted it and showed her its value.
Aud spoke: “By no means is this silver any less or worse than you have said. And now you must agree that I may do with it whatever I choose.” Eyjolf gladly agreed, and told her that, of course, she might do as she wished with it. Aud took the silver and out it in a large purse, then she stood up and struck Eyjolf on the nose [with the purse] and blood spurted all over him.
“Take that for your gullibility,” she said, “and all the harm that ensues from it. There was never any hope that I would render my husband into your hands, you evil man. Take this now for your cowardice and your shame, and remember, you wretch, for as long as you live, that a woman has struck you.”
– Gisli Sursson’s Saga, 13th Century AD
