THE SCENE: When the Christian Sigmundur finally gets the better of his enemy (and kinsman) Thrandur, he has to decide whether to kill him, or whether to find another way to quash the feud between them. Ultimately, he decides to give Thrandur “two very unequal choices”.
THE TEXT: They set course for Austurey and soon managed to make landfall on the island; they arrived undetected under the cover of night. Moving stealthily, they surrounded the farm at Gota. They battered logs against the door of the outbuilding where Thrandur slept, broke it open, rushed in and seized Thrandur, and manhandled him out.
Sigmundur address his kinsman, “Now, Thrandur, the tables are turned. You got the better of me last fall by cornering me with a difficult choice. Now I’m going to present you with two extremely unequal options. The better one is that you convert to the true faith and be baptized. If you are unwilling to do this, then the other option is that we’ll kill you right here and now. This is really the poorer choice for you, as you’ll instantly be deprived of all your riches and worldly comforts of your household, and in return gain only damnation and eternal suffering in you new stead in hell.”
Thrandur replies, “I won’t turn my back on my old friends.”
Sigmundur told one of his companions to kill Thrandur, handing him a large axe, but when the man started forward, Thrandur simply stared at him and said, “Don’t be so quick to kill me! I want to say something first, or where is my kinship with Sigmundur to be found in all this fool’s play?”
“I’m right here,” Sigmundur said.
“Can we discuss this again between us?” asked Thrandur. “I’ll switch to whatever faith you want!”
“Kill him now,” Thorir Beinisson snarled to the man with the axe.
Sigmundur said, “Don’t kill him just yet.”
“We’re talking about your death and mine if Thrandur gets away now,” cried Thorir.
“It’s time to abandon such things,” said Sigmundur.
The episode ended with Thrandur and his household being baptized by the priests. After the baptism, Sigmundur had Thrandur accompany him throughout the Faroe Islands, and he did not stop before the entire population was Christian.
– The Faroe-Island (Færeyinga) Saga, 13th Century AD
