In the valleys lived two brothers, Thord and Andrew, the sons of Andrew, both of whom it seemed to people had hot tempers. In the winter of 1820 they went to Hjallasand to fish. They had then reached the age of manhood, but were still unmarried. Both had fallen in love with the same girl, and this circumstance destroyed the brotherly relationship between them.
Early in the winter the boat Andreas was in was shipwrecked and he went down with it. Now his brother had a freer hand in his courtship, which he was very glad about, and he visited the girl more openly than he had hitherto done.
Some time passed without anything happening. But one evening Thord was walking alone in the dark the way from Ingjaldshol, and when he had come to Hjallasand, not far from his shack, Storedumpa, and was about to go to the shack door, he saw a man coming up from the boat who wanted to get in his way. Thord rushed to the door and the other was right behind him. Thord looked at the man and recognized him as his brother Andreas; he was horrified and stormed into the booth and onto the floor, but forgot to close the door behind him. On the ground[161] The beds were arranged in such a way that Farmer Thomas's bed was at one end, a bed for three fishermen at the opposite end, while Thord's bed was in the middle of the side wall opposite the stairway. It was dark when Thord hit the ground and people slept in the dark. The farmer Thomas woke up from her footsteps. Thord sat down on his bed, and just as he was sitting down Thomas heard him say, 'Do you think I am afraid to look you in the eye?' But at the same moment there was a terrible uproar, and Thord flew like a shot from the fishermen's bed, over them and up the wall, and they awoke from a bad dream. In no time at all, however, the specter snatched Thord away, dragging him along the floor and down the ladder. The farmer Thomas lit a candle and asked the fishermen to help Thord, who was in such bad shape, and they all ran down from the ground with him. Then the ghost fled, but Thord lay dead in the passage below, swimming in his blood. They picked him up and carried him to his bed, kept watch over him all night, and nursed him with great care. His body was badly battered, blue and swollen, and he did not regain consciousness until dawn the next morning. He lay ill for a long time, but eventually recovered, but in the winter he had to have his light on every night to keep the ghost from coming back. But Thord lay dead in the passage below, swimming in his blood. They picked him up and carried him to his bed, kept watch over him all night, and nursed him with great care. His body was badly battered, blue and swollen, and he did not regain consciousness until dawn the next morning. He lay ill for a long time, but eventually recovered, but in the winter he had to have his light on every night to keep the ghost from coming back. But Thord lay dead in the passage below, swimming in his blood. They picked him up and carried him to his bed, kept watch over him all night, and nursed him with great care. His body was badly battered, blue and swollen, and he did not regain consciousness until dawn the next morning. He lay ill for a long time, but eventually recovered, but in the winter he had to have his light on every night to keep the ghost from coming back.
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The next winter a few fishermen took service in Thomas's shack in Dumpa. One of them was called Sigurd Sigurdsson and came from Bredevig in the district of Barderstran. He was twenty-one years old, and for so young a man, he was tall and of good strength. He was given the bed that stood at one end of the floor, and a fisherman was assigned a place in it.
Thord Andreasson came a little later, and Thomas then asked Sigurd to take him as a bedfellow for the winter. Sigurd, not knowing what had happened the previous winter, gladly acquiesced in the farmer's request, and when they went to bed Sigurd lay on the outside, but Thord against the wall. But when they fell asleep, Sigurd dreamed that a frightening-looking man came to him and said, "I will reward you for lying in front of my brother so that I cannot get close to him." him?” asked Sigurd. "I want to murder him," said the other, "Oh," said Sigurd, "that's all you want from him?" Then it seemed to Sigurd as if the other were attacking him; they grabbed each other, and the end was that the attacker fell. Sigurd woke up and then crawled on all fours along the floor in front of the bed.
The next night Sigurd dreamed exactly the same thing; however, this time it seemed to him to be more difficult than yesterday to subdue the ghost, and this fight ended in such a way that Sigurd awoke from that[163] his bedfellows held him close to the hatch in the floor. They had believed that he was walking in his sleep and wanted to prevent him from doing so.
The third night Sigurd dreamed that he was standing by the boat down by the water, and that the same man came and attacked him with great bitterness; and for a long time they wrestled with one another, but Sigurd finally won the day; he dreamed that he killed the ghost, whereupon he took a sword in his hand and cut his opponent to pieces with it. And so the ghost stopped attacking.
Sigurd stayed in Dumpa during the winter and slept next to Thord, and after that time he never dreamed of his opponent, who through the whole winter did not harm his brother Thord with his hauntings.
Many years later, Thord and Sigurd met and spoke of the ghost. It had never attacked Thord since Sigurd defeated it. Thord survived his brother Andreas by about 20 years, but he never regained his old strength after their meeting in the pad. He later fell through the ice on Hvidaa in the Borgarfjord and drowned. He was then on a voyage to the South Country, whither he was going fishing, and had with him three pack horses, all of which drowned with him.
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The Ulfssee
To the south, between the Skagefjord valleys, lies a fish-rich lake called Ulfssee, which got its name in the following way:
A rich farmer once lived on Mällifellsaa. He had a son, named Gudmund, who was a hopeful youth in every way. He had good strength and was a proficient wrestler. He was often out looking for cattle, and whenever there was a search he was guide, or mountain king, as the Rangvellingers say.
Once Gudmund went out with several men to look for runaway sheep. During the search he ended up alone with a boy, and they came to the Ulfssee. Then they spotted two lambs that began to pursue them. The lake was frozen over and they saw that a man was lying out on the ice fishing.
As Gudmund and his companion got closer to the lake, the fisherman jumped up, grabbed an ax that lay beside him, took a running start and slid towards Gudmund. The boy had scarcely noticed this when he gave his heels, but Gudmund was waiting for the man.
When he was close to Gudmund, he struck at him with the ax, but Gudmund dodged. The ax fell out of the peaceless [6] 's hand, Gudmund caught it[165] took a running start and slid out onto the lake where the other began to pursue him. They did it like that for a while until Gudmund found a suitable opportunity. He turned and gave the deathblow to the peaceless; but while he was receiving the blow, he cried out in a loud voice for Brand, Thorgils, and Olaf. Then Gudmund went to his people and told them what had happened. They then went to the lake in closed groups, but by then the dead man had disappeared; they saw that he had been carried away, for the traces of blood on the ice pointed to land.
After this time Gudmund stayed at home and never went out to look for sheep; for he feared that the peaceless would lie in wait for him. It happened once, late in the summer, that the shepherd at Mällifellsaa fell ill and there was nobody on the farm who could gather the sheep except Gudmund. So he left, but couldn't find her anywhere. He went on and on to the heath, but he couldn't find the sheep there either. Then a fog fell so thick that he did not know where he was; nevertheless he went on until he saw a large flock of sheep, and with them a man.
This one, a peaceless one, immediately attacked Gudmund,[166] and they wrestled until Gudmund threw his opponent. The peaceless begged for mercy and promised to reward him handsomely. Gudmund asked who he was and where his home was. The peaceless one replied that his name was Olaf and that he was a brother of the one he had killed on the lake; But his name would have been Ulf.
'We are six brothers and I am the youngest and smallest of them all. My father lives on a farm not far from here and has conjured you here because he wants to reward you for killing his son; he has had a grave dug in the forecourt, and he has made you his guest. We have a sister called Sigrid who our father loves the most; she can give you the best help if she wants to give you a hand. My brother Brand is near here, and if you could get hold of him, so that you would have saved us both, I suppose she would give you as much help as she can.'
Thereupon Gudmund made Olaf stand up, and then he continued on his way until he met Brand. They wrestled with each other and Gudmund managed to get Brand under himself. Then the latter asked for mercy and promised him help by telling him exactly the same as Olaf had told him before.
Gudmund then let him get up, went to the yard and found Sigrid outside. He brought her the greetings of the brothers and added that they asked her[167] to help the one who gave them life. Then Sigrid led him to the attic above the stable and poured him a drink of wine, which strengthened him greatly. Then she described to him the tomb in the courtyard, and advised him to let her father drive him against it when they were wrangling, but when he reached the edge he should jump over and let her father fall into the tomb ; but he should not kill him. She said that her father was asleep at the moment, but that he would wake up soon, then he should go into the yard and knock on the door.
Gudmund did as she said; but when the old man heard the beating, he got out of bed and said: "Now Gudmund has come at last, and now he has to show what he's good for."
The farmer ran out, but there was no talk of greeting each other, on the contrary, they immediately charged each other, and it became a hard fight.
Gudmund soon realized that he had no more than half the strength of the old man; therefore he only resisted, but did not attack. The old man wanted to urge him to the grave, and Gudmund let himself be carried along; but when they had reached it, Gudmund jumped over and rocked the old man in headfirst. Immediately Sigrid and the two brothers, with whom Gudmund had previously wrestled, came and begged him to give their father his life. But he promised to do it if she didn't give him one from now on[168] wanted to do harm. The old man promised that. He was then pulled up, and now he thanked Gudmund for his life and invited him to come in, but said that he could not know how his sons would take it when they got home. Then Gudmund was entertained as a guest, but locked in a chamber in the evening. Then the older brothers came home and asked if Gudmund was a guest in the grave. The old man told how everything had happened. But this made them mad and they wanted to break open the chamber door. The old man then went out and said that if they wanted to break hospitality and kill Gudmund they would have to kill him first. Then they calmed down and went to bed.
The next morning the old man introduced them to Gudmund and told them not to harm him. Gudmund stayed there through the winter; he liked Sigrid because she was a beautiful maid and also of good build and so strong that she could compete with all her brothers. She and Gudmund became good friends.
In the spring he longed to go home, and Sigrid, who was expecting a child, wanted to accompany him; the old man did not try to stop her, and Gudmund now went off with her, and did not rest until he had come to Mällifellsaa, where all were glad to see him again, whom they had long since dead and gone[169] had believed. He married Sigrid and they lived at Mällifellsaa for a long time, and she was thought to be an excellent and high-minded woman.
After her departure and the death of their father, the brothers found the dwelling up in the wilderness dreary and tedious, and therefore they also moved to inhabited regions with all their property. A few of them became farmers in the Skagefjord, and they all enjoyed the reputation of being able and good men.
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