THE SCENE: In the passage below, a woman manages to trick her husband into a divorce by getting him to wear a shirt that showed off a little too much skin.
THE TEXT: Thord Ingunnarson made himself very friendly with Thorvald and Gudrun, and spent a lot of time with them, and there was much talk about an affair between Thord and Gudrun.
On one occasion Gudrun asked Thorvald to buy some gift for her. Thorvald said she showed no moderation, and slapped her on the face.
At that, Gudrun said, “You have now given me what every woman wants above all – good colouring; and you have taught me to stop bothering you for thing.”
That same evening, Thord arrived. Gudrun told him how she had been insulted, and asked him how she should repay it.
Thord smiled and said, “I have a good solution for this. Make him a shirt with such a wide neck-opening that by wearing it he gives you grounds for divorcing him.”
Gudrun raised no objection to this, and they dropped the subject. That same spring Gudrun declared herself divorced from Thorvald and went home to Laugar. After that there was a division of the whole estate, and Gudrun got half of it; it had increased in value by then. They had been together for two years.
– Laxdaela Saga, 13th Century AD
