“New priesthoods,” answers Mord, “have been set up here, and a law for a Fifth Court, and men have declared themselves out of my Thing, and have gone over to Hauskuld’s Thing.”

“Ill hast thou repaid me,” said Valgard, “for giving up to thee my priesthood, when thou hast handled it so little like a man, and now my wish is that thou shouldst pay them off by something that will drag them all down to death; and this thou canst do by setting them by the ears by tale-bearing, so that Njal’s sons may slay Hauskuld; but there are many who will have the blood-feud after him, and so Njal’s sons will be slain in that quarrel.”

“I shall never be able to get that done,” says Mord.

“I will give thee a plan,” says Valgard; “thou shalt ask Njal’s sons to thy house, and send them away with gifts, but thou shalt keep thy tale-bearing in the back ground until great friendship has sprung up between you, and they trust thee no worse than their own selves.  So wilt thou be able to avenge thyself on Skarphedinn for that he took thy money from thee after Gunnar’s death; and in this wise, further on, thou wilt be able to seize the leadership when they are all dead and gone.”

This plan they settled between them should be brought to pass; and Mord said—­

“I would, father, that thou wouldst take on thee the new faith.  Thou art an old man.”

“I will not do that,” says Valgard.  “I would rather that thou shouldst cast off the faith, and see what follows then.”

Mord said he would not do that.  Valgard broke crosses before Mord’s face, and all holy tokens.  A little after Valgard took a sickness and breathed his last, and he was laid in a cairn by Hof.

CHAPTER CVII.

OF MORD AND NJAL’S SONS.

Some while after Mord rode to Bergthorsknoll and saw Skarphedinn there; he fell into very fair words with them, and so he talked the whole day, and said he wished to be good friends with them, and to see much of them.

Skarphedinn took it all well, but said he had never sought for anything of the kind before.  So it came about that he got himself into such great friendship with them, that neither side thought they had taken any good counsel unless the other had a share in it.

Njal always disliked his coming thither, and it often happened that he was angry with him.

It happened one day that Mord came to Bergthorsknoll, and Mord said to Njal’s sons—­

“I have made up my mind to give a feast yonder, and I mean to drink in my heirship after my father, but to that feast I wish to bid you, Njal’s sons, and Kari; and at the same time I give you my word that ye shall not fare away giftless.”

They promised to go, and now he fares home and makes ready the feast.  He bade to it many householders, and that feast was very crowded.

Thither came Njal’s sons and Kari.  Mord gave Skarphedinn a brooch of gold, and a silver belt to Kari, and good gifts to Grim and Helgi.