THE SCENE: In his attempt to kill the young sons of his enemies, the villainous Thrandur finds himself thwarted on all sides by the decency of the murderers and slave-traders around him.
THE TEXT: After the battle, Thrandur proposed that they should kill the boys, Sigmundur and Thorir.
“I’m not going to kill them,” replied Bjarni evenly.
Thrandur frowned, “If they go free, someday these boys will be the death of nearly every man here.”
Bjarni answered, “I wouldn’t kill them any more than I would kill myself.”
“I wasn’t being serious just now,” said Thrandur lightly. “I just wanted to test you to see how you would react to it. Now I will make amends with the boys for all this, since I was forced to take a stand against them; I will offer to be a foster-father to them.”
The boys sat on the rock and looked up at this news. Thorir burst into tears, but Sigmundur said, “Let’s not cry, cousin, but just mark this day for a long time.”
After this episode, Thrandur had the boys come home with him to Gota. That same summer, a ship from Norway landed in the Faroe Islands. The captain’s name was Hrafn. It is said that one morning, while the merchants were still unloading their cargo, Thrandur of Gota arrived in a skiff and asked to speak with the captain, Hrafn, in private. Thrandur told him that he had two persons to sell to him as slaves. Hrafn replied that he would not buy them before he had seen them. Then Thrandur led two boys forward; their heads were shaved and they wore white cloaks. Both were handsome, but their faces were swollen with grief.
When he saw the boys, Hrfan said, “Thrandur, these boys are the sons of Brestir and Beinar, whom you so shamefully murdered, aren’t they?”
“I think you know they are,” replied Thrandur.
“I am not taking them into my charge,” Hrafn said, “if I have to pay money for them.”
“I’ll agree to that,” answered Thrandur. “Here are two marks of silver, which I am giving you on the condition that you take these boys away with you and see to it that they never come back to the Faroe Island.”
Then he poured out some silver on the table in front of the captain, counted it, and presented it to him. It was very fine quality silver, or so it seemed to Hrafn, and so the deal was struck that he would take the boys with him.
– The Faroe-Island (Færeyinga) Saga, 13th Century AD
