WEESTL1NG. 373 



whose face could not be clearly seen. Thorbjorn took hold 

 of him, and pulled hard; but. he sat still and did not move. 

 Then Thorbjorn said : ' No one has sat so firm before ine 

 to-day as thou ; but who art thou ? ' ' My name is Gest ' 

 (guest), he replied. 'If thou wilt take part in some game, 

 thou art a welcome guest.' He answered : ' It seems to me, 

 many things may change, and I will not join in games with 

 you, who are entirely unknown to me.' Many said that he 

 would do well if he, though a stranger, would give them some 

 amusement. He asked what they wanted of him. They asked 

 him to wrestle with some one. He said he had ceased to 

 wrestle, ' but,' he added, ' there was a time when I enjoyed it 

 greatly.' ' 



" Thord rushed at Grettir, but he stood firm without flinching. 

 Grettir then stretched his hand to the back of Thord and got 

 hold of his breeches, lifted him off his feet, over his head, and 

 threw him down behind him, so that Thord's shoulders came 

 down with a heavy thud. Then they said that the two 

 brothers should attack him at the same time, and they did 

 so ; there was a hard tussle, and each had the better of it by 

 turns, although Grettir always had one of them under him. 

 They fell by turns on their knees or dragged each other along ; 

 they grasped each other so tightly that they were all blue and 

 bloody. All thought this the greatest fun, and when they 

 stopped thanked them for the wrestling ; and it was the 

 opinion of all who were present that the two brothers were not 

 stronger than Grettir, though each of them had the strength of 

 two strong men " (Gretti's Saga, c. 72 and 74). 



Thord Fangari challenged Klaufi, who was only ten winters 

 old, to wrestle, and called him a coward if he would not. 



" They summoned many people to Hof, for Thord would 

 wrestle nowhere except there. They began and wrestled long, 

 until a bondmaid came into the door of the women's room and 

 called it bondmaid-wrestling, as neither of them fell, and told 

 them to kiss each other and then stop. Klaufi got angry at 

 this, and raised Thord up on his breast, and threw him down so 

 hard that all thought he was hurt " (Svarfdsela, c. 1'2). 



" One summer at the Althing men were divided in two 

 parties at the Fangabrekka (wrestling-brink, slope), Nordlen- 

 dings (men from the northern part of the land) and Vestfirdings 

 (from the western fjords). The Nordlendings were defeated, and 

 their leader was Mar, the son of Glum. Ingolf, the son of 

 Thorvald of Rangarvellir, came there. Mar said : ' Thou art a 

 stout man ; thou must be strong ; be on my side in the 



