Angle had intended to have an execution against Illugi and to claim all his property, but when all these men came up he saw that it would not do.  Ospak and Gamli were very forward in wanting to fight with Angle, but the wiser heads told them to get the advice of their kinsmen Thorvald and other chiefs, and said that the more men of knowledge occupied themselves with the affair the worse it would be for Angle.  Through their intervention Angle got away and took with him Grettir’s head, which he intended to produce at the All-Thing.  He rode home thinking that matters were going badly for him, for nearly all the chiefs in the land were either relations or connections of Grettir and Illugi.

That summer Skeggi Short-hand married the daughter of Thorodd Drapustuf, who then took part in the case on the side of Grettir’s kinsmen.

CHAPTER LXXXIV

THORBJORN IS EXILED AT THE THING

Men now rode to the Thing.  Angle’s party was smaller than he had expected, because the matter had come to be badly spoken of.  Halldor asked whether they were to take Grettir’s head with them to the All-Thing.  Angle said he meant to take it.

“That is an ill-advised thing to do,” said Halldor; “there are quite enough men against you as it is, without your doing such a thing as that to re-awaken their grief.”

They were then on the road, and meant to ride South by Sand, so Angle let him take the head and bury it in a sand-hill, which is now called Grettisthuf.

The Thing was very full.  Angle brought forward his case, making the most of his own deeds.  He told them how he had killed the forest-man on whose head the highest price had been laid, and he claimed the money.  Thorir replied as before.  Then the Lawman was asked for his opinion.  He said that he wished to hear whether any counter-charge was made, by which Angle should forfeit the outlaw money; if not, the money offered for Grettir’s head must be paid.  Then Thorvald the son of Asgeir asked Short-hand to bring the case before the court, and he declared a first summons against Thorbjorn Angle for witchcraft and sorcery through which Grettir had met with his death, and a second for having killed a man who was half dead, crimes which he said were punishable with outlawry.

There was a great division of parties, but those who supported Thorbjorn were few.  It went very unexpectedly for him, for Thorvald and his son-in-law Isleif held that to do a man to death by sorcery was a crime worthy of death.  Finally, by the counsel of wise men sentence was passed that Thorbjorn was to leave Iceland that summer and not to return during the lifetime of any of the men concerned in the case on the side of Illugi and Grettir.  It was enacted as a law that all sorcerers should be outlawed.

When Thorbjorn saw what his fate was going to be he got away from the Thing, for Grettir’s friends were making preparations to attack him.  None of the money that was set upon Grettir’s head did he get; Steinn the Lawman would not allow it because of his dishonourable conduct; nor was any blood-money paid for the men who had fallen on his side in Drangey; they were set off against Illugi, an arrangement, however, with which Illugi’s kinsmen were not at all pleased.