HORSE-FIGHTS. 359 



that the king liked it well. Then other horses were led forth, 

 of which there is no account " (Biskupa Sogur, i. ; Aron's Saga, 

 ch. 18). 



Some kinsmen of the chief Glum came to him one autumn, 

 and a feast was made for them. 



" When they made ready to go home, Gliim gave his kins- 

 man Bjarni a red stallion, six winters old, and said he would 

 give him another if any horse surpassed this one. They went 

 home from the feast, and Bjarni at once fed it on hay, and it 

 was very well kept there. The next summer he was very 

 curious to know how it would fight. He talked about 

 having a fight against a horse owned by Thorkel Geirason of 

 Skord, and it was decided that they should make the horses 

 fight at Midsummer at Mafahjalli. Thormod and his son 

 Eyjiilf had a grey stallion with a mane of a different colour, 

 and always sold horses begotten by it, but did not like to use 

 it in a horse-fight. It is said that once the stallions of Thormod 

 and Bjarni met and bit each other so that they were all 

 bloody. The servant of Bjarni came to him and said that he 

 had seen the two stallions bitten, and red all over. * Bjarni 

 sent word to Thorkel that they would not have the horse-fight, 

 as his stallion was no longer able to fight. Bjarni supposed 

 that Eyjiilf and his father Thormod had made the horses fight, 

 as they could not have maltreated each other thus by them- 

 selves, and therefore offered to have a horse-fight when eight 

 weeks of the summer had passed. Thormod asked his son to 

 decide whether to do it or not, for he wanted the fight. The 

 horses were led forward, and the fight went on well till eleven 

 rounds had passed. Then Eyjiilf's stallion took hold of the 

 jawbone of Bjarni's, and held 011 until Bjarni came up and 

 struck it off. Eyjiilf turned round and struck the stallion, and 

 the stick rebounded heavily from the horse and hit Bjarni's 

 shoulder. The horses were parted at once. Eyjiilf went to 

 Bjarni and said this mishap had not been wished by him. I 

 will show whether I did this intentionally or not. I will give 

 thee sixty rams if thou wilt not blame me for this, and then 

 thou canst see that I did not wish this to happen.' Bjarni said 

 that he had caused it himself, and thought they had not made 

 the stallions bloody. Then they went home. In the autumn 

 at the rettir (sheep-meeting) Eyjiilf took out sixty rams. 

 Thormod asked what he was going to do with these. Eyjiilf 

 answered that he had given them to Bjarni. Thormckl said, 

 ' The blow was heavy, nor is the payment little.' As soon as he 

 had said this Bjarni turned to him and struck him a death- 



