© Gunnar Tómasson

21 August 2017

Troilus and Cressida

(Wikipedia)

The play is believed to have been written around 1602, shortly after the completion of Hamlet. It was published in quarto in two separate editions, both in 1609. It is not known whether the play was ever performed in its own time, because the two editions contradict each other: one announces on the title page that the play had been recently performed on stage; the other claims in a preface that it is a new play that has never been staged. …

The confusion is compounded by the fact that in the original pressing of the First Folio, the play’s pages are unnumbered, the title is not included in the Table of Contents, and it appears to have been squeezed between the histories and the tragedies. Based on this evidence, scholars believe it was a very late addition to the Folio, and therefore may have been added wherever there was room.

The Man Who Saw Through Time

This is the title of a book on Francis Bacon, written by Loren Eiseley (1907-1977), an American anthropologist, educator, philosopher and natural science writer.  Close associates of Francis Bacon considered him a prophet in the Old Testament sense of the term and Bacon himself wrote for “the future ages” and his “fellow countrymen after some time is past”.

If, as I believe, Bacon was deeply involved with the Shakespeare Opus, then exclusion of Troilus and Cressida in the Table of Contents and the “incorrect” statement that the play had not been staged can be construed as deliberate signals that the Second Preface was written in respect of a future “play” or “plays” such as Los Caprichos and Abomination of Desolation here below.

Moreover, this construction would accord with Hamlet’s play-within-the-play and the play that a Lord had players stage for the non-suspecting drunk Christopher Sly in Taming of the Shrew.

Also, if as Prince Hamlet contended, there are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in our philosophy, then the following might be viewed as consistent with that hypothesis:

The Sun turns black, Earth sinks in the Sea

 (Völuspá – Sybil’s Prophecy)

18099

13976 = Sól tér sortna, sígr fold í mar.

2106 = 21 August – 6th month old-style

  2017 = 2017 A.D.

18099

The Last Judgement

(Michelangelo, Sistine Chapel)

11099 = Il Giudizio Universale

New Earth

Rises from the Sea

(Völuspá)

  7000 = Microcosmos – Man in God‘s Image

18099

***

 I. Eternall reader, you have heere a new play.

(Second Preface, Troilus and Cressida, 1609)

948513

18650 = A never Writer to an ever Reader NEWES.

16240 = Eternall reader, you have heere a new play,

13010 = never stal’d with the Stage,

23708 = never clapper-clawd with the palmes of the vulger,

16660 = and yet passing full of the palme comicall;

13201 = for it is a birth of your braine,

21808 = that never undertooke any thing commicall, vainely:

17249 = And were but the vaine names of commedies

25742 = changde for the titles of Commodities, or of Playes for Pleas;

17692 = you should see all those grand censors,

17625 = that now stile them such vanities,

21808 = flock to them for the maine grace of their gravities:

15928 = especially this authors Commedies,

11471 = that are so fram’d to the life,

17105 = that they serve for the most common

20281 = Commentaries of all the actions of our lives,

23403 = shewing such a dexteritie and power of witte,

17657 = that the most displeased with Playes,

13245 = are pleasd with his Commedies.

21167 = And all such dull and heavy-witted worldlings,

20251 = as were never capable of the witte of a Commedie,

23426 = comming by report of them to his representations,

13582 = have found that witte there

16494 = that they never found in themselves,

19072 = and have parted better-wittied then they came:

16531 = feeling an edge of witte set upon them,

22250 = more then ever they dreamd they had braine to grinde it on.

18999 = So much and such savored salt of witte

14576 = is in his Commedies, that they seeme

12519 = (for their height of pleasure)

21928 = to be borne in that sea that brought forth Venus.

22553 = Amongst all there is none more witty then this:

16867 = And had I time I would comment upon it,

29490 = though I know it needs not, (for so much as will make you thinke

28055 = your testerne well bestowd) but for so much worth,

18241 = as even poore I know to be stuft in it.

11685 = It deserves such a labour,

22731 = as well as the best Commedy in Terence or Plautus.

15269 = And beleeve this, That when hee is gone,

24766 = and his Commedies out of sale, you will scramble for them,

17673 = and set up a new English Inquisition.

30450 = Take this for a warning, and at the perrill of your pleasures losse,

11736 = and Judgements, refuse not,

19867 = nor like this the lesse for not being sullied,

18871 = with the smoaky breath of the multitude;

24849 = but thanke fortune for the scape it hath made amongst you.

21313 = Since by the grand possessors wills, I beleeve,

22266 = you should have prayd for them rather then beene prayd.

14729 = And so I leave all such to bee prayd for

30720 = (for the states of their wits healths) that will not praise it.

   1754 = Vale.

948513                                                                       

II. Abomination of Desolation¹

(Contemporary history)

468222

The Gates of Hell

13031 = International Monetary Fund

9948 = Harvard University

7146 = Seðlabanki Íslands = 30125

Right Measure of Man

Persecuted

  8525 = Gunnar Tómasson

12385 = Guðrún Ólafía Jónsdóttir

Modes of Persecution

11587 = Character Assassination

5881 = Níðingsverk – Barbarity

7750 = Psychiatric Rape

6603 = Mannorðsmorð – Vicious Slander

16439 = Criminal Obstruction of Justice

Persecutors – Jesting Pilates

U.S. Government

12867 = William Jefferson Clinton – President

4496 = Janet Reno – Attorney General

International Monetary Fund

8899 = Jacques de Larosière – Managing Director

7678 = Michel Camdessus – Managing Director

5517 = William B. Dale – Deputy Managing Director

2713 = Dick Erb – Deputy Managing Director

6584 = Jacques J. Polak – Economic Counsellor

4734 = Tun Thin – Asian Department Director

9349 = W. John R. Woodley – Asian Department Deputy Director

3542 = Ken Clark – Director of Administration

3339 = Graeme Rea – Director of Administration

3227 = P. N. Kaul – Deputy Director of Administration

5446 = Nick Zumas – Grievance Committee Chairman

Harvard University

3625 = Derek C. Bok – President

8175 = Henry Rosovsky – Dean, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences

8566 = James S. Duesenberry – Chairman, Department of Economics

11121 = Paul Anthony Samuelson – Ph. D., Nobel Laureate in Economics

8381 = Walter S. Salant – Ph. D., Brookings Institution Senior Fellow

Iceland Government

10244 = Vigdís Finnbogadóttir – President

11361 = Salóme Þorkelsdóttir – Althing President

6028 = Davíd Oddsson – Prime Minister

10295 = Þorsteinn Pálsson – Minister of Justice

8316 = Jón Sigurdsson – Minister of Commerce

5940 = Jónas H. Haralz – World Bank Executive Director

Other Iceland

6648 = Jóhannes Nordal – Central Bank Governor

8864 = Bjarni Bragi Jónsson – Central Bank Chief Economist

14314 = Benjamín Jón Hafsteinn Eiríksson – Harvard Ph. D.

9720 = Matthías Jóhannessen – Editor, Morgunblaðið

Other

10989 = Orenthal James Simpson

8015 = John & Patsy Ramsey

4953 = Osama bin Laden

Violent Crimes

3586 = Murder

6899 = Nicole Brown

4948 = Ron Goldman

6100 = Brentwood

1204 = 12 June (4th month old-style)

1994 = 1994 A.D.

3718 = Jonbenet

3503 = Boulder

2510 = 25 December (10th month old-style)

1996 = 1996 A.D.

5557 = The Pentagon

9596 = World Trade Center

1107 = 11 September (7th month old-style)

2001 = 2001 A.D.

Other

7920 = Excelsior Hotel

5060 = Paula Jones

803 = 8 May (3rd month old-style)

1991 = 1991 A.D.

4014 = Kiss it!

8486 = The White House

7334 = Kathleen Willey

2909 = 29 November (9th month old-style)

1993 = 1993 A.D.

22091 = I’ve wanted to do this ever since I laid eyes on you.

6045 = The Oval Office

8112 = Monica Lewinsky

1509 = 15 November (9th month old-style)

1995 = 1995 A.D.  = 438097¹

468222

INSERT

Francisco Goya – Los Caprichos

”The sleep of reason produces monsters.“

Background

© http://a-r-t.com/goya/

Los Caprichos, a set of eighty etchings by Spanish artist Francisco de Goya y Lucientes published in 1799, is one of the most influential series of graphic images in the history of Western art. …

Enigmatic and controversial, Los Caprichos was created in a time of social repression and economic crisis in Spain. Influenced by Enlightenment thinking, Goya set out to analyze the human condition and denounce social abuses and superstitions. Los Caprichos was his passionate declaration that the chains of social backwardness had to be broken if humanity was to advance. The series attests to the artist‘s political liberalism and to his revulsion at ignorance and intellectual oppression, mirroring his ambivalence toward authority and the church.

Los Caprichos deals with such themes as the Spanish Inquisition, the corruption of the church and the nobility, witchcraft, child rearing, avarice, and the frivolity of young women. Its subhuman cast includes goblins, monks, aristocrats, procuresses, prostitutes, and animals acting like human fools; these personages populate a world on the margins of reason, where no clear boundaries distinguish reality from fantasy.

“Capricho” can be translated as a “whim,” a “fantasy or an expression of imagination.” In Goya’s use of the term for this series of prints, however, the meaning has deepened, binding an ironical cover of humor over one of the most profound indictments of human vice ever set on paper.

END INSERT

III. Los Caprichos – Set of 80 Etchings

(Published 1799)

581598

6892 = Los Caprichos

14017 = 1 Fran co Goya y Lucientes, Pintor.

21442 = 2 El si pronuncian y la mano alargan Al primero que llega.

7296 = 3 Que viene el Coco.

5553 = 4 El de la rollona.

5446 = 5 Tal para qual.

5659 = 6 Nadie se conoce.

7930 = 7 Ni asi la distingue.

7956 = 8 Que se la llevaron.

3725 = 9 Tantalo.

7521 = 10 El amor y la muerte.

7454 = 11 Muchachos al avio.

5709 = 12 A caza de dientes.

6984 = 13 Estan calientes.

6855 = 14 Que sacrificio.

7691 = 15 Bellos consejos.

11478 = 16 Dios la perdone. Y era su madre.

5998 = 17 Bien tirada esta.

6911 = 18 Ysele quema la Casa.

5577 = 19 Todos Caeran.

7970 = 20 Ya van desplumados.

7184 = 21 Qual la descanonan.

5274 = 22 Pobrecitas.

8103 = 23 Aquellos polbos.

6459 = 24 Nohubo remedio.

9165 = 25 Si quebro el Cantaro.

7214 = 26 Ya tienen asiento.

7605  = 27 Quien mas rendido.

3402 = 28 Chiton.

8880 = 29 Esto si que es leer.

10247 = 30 Porque esconderlos.

5869 = 31 Ruega por ella.

9435 = 32 Por que fue sensible.

6618 = 33 Al Conde Palatino.

7775 = 34 Las rinde el Sueno.

4474 = 35 Le descanona.

3474 = 36 Mala noche.

10759 = 37 Si sabra mas el discipulo.

4074 = 38 Brabisimo.

6340 = 39 Asta su abuelo.

6861 = 40 De que mal morira.

6394 = 41 Ni mas ni menos.

8257 = 42 Tu que no puedes.

19212 = 43 El sueno de la razón produce monstruos.

4187 = 44 Hilan delgado

9148 = 45 Mucho hay que chupar.

5082 = 46 Correcion.

9652 = 47 Obsequio a el maestro.

5096 = 48 Soplones.

5777 = 49 Duendecitos       .

7106 = 50 Los Chinchillas.

5106 = 51 Se repulen.

10779 = 52 Lo que puede un Sastre.

6758 = 53 Que pico de Oro.

7594 = 54 El Vergonzoso.

6609 = 55 Hasta la muerte.

5140 = 56 Subir y bajar.

4392 = 57 La filiacion.

6005 = 58 Tragala perro.

5960 = 59 Y aun no se van.

3747 = 60 Ensayos.

6625 = 61 Volaverunt.

7150 = 62 Quien lo creyera.

6991 = 63 Miren que grabes.

3862 = 64 Buen Viage.

4159 = 65 Donde va mama.

3960 = 66 Alla va eso.

8875 = 67 Aguarda que te unten.

5352 = 68 Linda maestra.

2816 = 69 Sopla.

8285 = 70 Devota profesion.

8728 = 71 Si amanece, nos Vamos.

6572 = 72 No te escaparas.

6559 = 73 Mejor es holgar.

7995 = 74 No grites, tonta.

9742 = 75 No hay quien nos desate.

16473 = 76 Està Um..pues, Como digo..eh! Cuidado! Si no…

7107 = 77 Unos à otros       .

10218 = 78 Despacha, que dispiertan.

7947 = 79 Nadie nos ha visto.

3552 = 80 Ya es hora. – It‘s time.

End of Time

-2118 = TIME

Hell Gates No More

-6529 = The Gates of Hell

581598

IV. To The Reader – The First Folio

(Ben Jonson‘s Centerfold Poem)

174695

 5506 = To the Reader.

18236 = This Figure, that thou here seest put,

16030 = It was for gentle Shakespeare cut;

13614 = Wherein the Grauer had a strife

15814 = with Nature, to out-doo the life :

16422 = O, could he but haue drawne his wit

13172 = As well in brasse, as he hath hit

19454 = His face; the Print would then surpasse

16560 = All, that vvas euer vvrit in brasse.

13299 = But, since he cannot, Reader, looke

15354 = Not on his Picture, but his Booke.

541 = B.I.

Gentle Shakespeare

A Never/Timeless Writer

(Construction G. T.)

  10594 = Sir Francis Bacon, Knight

      100 = THE END

174695

I + II + III + IV = 948513 + 468222 + 581598 + 174695 = 2173028

V. Laxdæla Saga – Slaying/Dráp Kjartans Ólafssonar²

(Chapter 49)

2173028

34926 = Nú ríðr Kjartan suðr eftir dalnum ok þeir þrír saman, Án svarti ok Þórarinn.

19923 = Þorkell hét maðr, er bjó at Hafratindum í Svínadal.

6200 = Þar er nú auðn.

28205 = Hann hafði farit til hrossa sinna um daginn ok smalasveinn með honum.

26955 = Þeir sá hváratveggju, Laugarmenn í fyrirsátinni ok þá Kjartan,

16553 = er þeir riðu eftir dalnum þrír saman.

28282 = Þá mælti smalasveinn, at þeir myndi snúa til móts við þá Kjartan,

10312 = kvað þeim þat mikit happ,

29673 = ef þeir mætti skirra vandræðum svá miklum sem þá var til stefnt.

17243 = Þorkell mælti: „Þegi skjótt,” segir hann.

23094 = „Mun fóli þinn nökkurum manni líf gefa, ef bana verðr auðit?

19300 = Er þat ok satt at segja, at ek spari hváriga til,

18797 = at þeir eigi nú svá illt saman sem þeim líkar.

31723 = Sýnist mér þat betra ráð, at vit komim okkr þar, at okkr sé við engu hætt,

23826 = en vit megim sem gerst sjá fundinn ok hafim gaman af leik þeira,

25763 = því at þat ágæta allir, at Kjartan sé vígr hverjum manni betr.

16960 = Væntir mik ok, at hann þurfi nú þess,

22510 = því at okkr er þat kunnigt, at ærinn er liðsmunr.

16445 = Ok varð svá at vera sem Þorkell vildi.

13298 = Þeir Kjartan ríða fram at Hafragili.

18394 = En í annan stað gruna þeir Ósvífrssynir,

18593 = hví Bolli mun sér hafa þar svá staðar leitat,

18608 = er hann mátti vel sjá, þá er menn riðu vestan.

29778 = Þeir gera nú ráð sitt ok þótti sem Bolli myndi þeim eigi vera trúr,

22867 = ganga at honum upp í brekkuna ok brugðu á glímu ok á glens

23635 = ok tóku í fætr honum ok drógu hann ofan fyrir brekkuna.

18047 = En þá Kjartan bar brátt at, er þeir riðu hart,

31775 = ok er þeir kómu suðr yfir gilit, þá sá þeir fyrirsátina ok kenndu mennina.

29132 = Kjartan spratt þegar af baki ok sneri í móti þeim Ósvífrssonum.

12771 = Þar stóð steinn einn mikill.

9677 = Þar bað Kjartan þá við taka.

21399 = En áðr þeir mættist, skaut Kjartan spjótinu,

20424 = ok kom í skjöld Þórólfs fyrir ofan mundriðann,

12532 = ok bar at honum skjöldinn við.

27039 = Spjótit gekk í gegnum skjöldinn ok handlegginn fyrir ofan ölnboga

13699 = ok tók þar í sundr aflvöðvann.

30237 = Lét Þórólfr þá lausan skjöldinn, ok var honum ónýt höndin um daginn.

22420 = Síðan brá Kjartan sverðinu ok hafði eigi konungsnaut.

33851 = Þórhöllusynir runnu á Þórarin, því at þeim var þat hlutverk ætlat.

23316 = Var sá atgangr harðr, því at Þórarinn var rammr at afli.

10316 = Þeir váru ok vel knáir.

26803 = Mátti þar ok varla í milli sjá, hvárir þar myndu drjúgari verða.

25846 = Þá sóttu þeir Ósvífrssynir at Kjartani ok Guðlaugr.

18922 = Váru þeir sex, en þeir Kjartan ok Án tveir.

19769 = Án varðist vel ok vildi æ ganga fram fyrir Kjartan.

10114 = Bolli stóð hjá með Fótbít.

17936 = Kjartan hjó stórt, en sverðit dugði illa.

13690 = Brá hann því jafnan undir fót sér.

24384 = Urðu þá hvárirtveggju sárir, Ósvífrssynir ok Án,

12497 = en Kjartan var þá enn ekki sárr.

18486 = Kjartan barðist svá snart ok hraustliga,

30220 = at þeir Ósvífrssynir hopuðu undan ok sneru þá þar at, sem Án var.

25139 = Þá fell Án, ok hafði hann þó barizt um hríð svá, at úti lágu iðrin.

23793 = Í þessi svipan hjó Kjartan fót af Guðlaugi fyrir ofan kné,

15330 = ok var honum sá áverki ærinn til bana.

20375 = Þá sækja þeir Ósvífrssynir fjórir Kjartan,

27913 = ok varðist hann svá hraustliga, at hvergi fór hann á hæl fyrir þeim.

7024 = Þá mælti Kjartan:

24319 = „Bolli frændi, hví fórtu heiman, ef þú vildir kyrr standa hjá?

26449 = Ok er þér nú þat vænst at veita öðrum hvárum ok reyna nú,

10296 = hversu Fótbítr dugi.”

11020 = Bolli lét sem hann heyrði eigi.

19045 = Ok er Óspakr sá, at þeir myndi eigi bera af Kjartani,

9439 = þá eggjar hann Bolla á alla vega,

21378 = kvað hann eigi mundu vilja vita þá skömm eftir sér

18464 = at hafa heitit þeim vígsgengi ok veita nú ekki, –

18612  = „ok var Kjartan oss þá þungr í skiptum,

17211 = er vér höfðum eigi jafnstórt til gert,

14170 = ok ef Kjartan skal nú undan rekast,

22803 = þá mun þér, Bolli, svá sem oss, skammt til afarkosta.”

17639 = Þá brá Bolli Fótbít ok snýr nú at Kjartani.

10733 = Þá mælti Kjartan til Bolla:

20155 = „Víst ætlar þú nú, frændi, níðingsverk at gera,

21895 = en miklu þykkir mér betra at þiggja banaorð af þér, frændi,

7286 = en veita þér þat.”

22823 = Síðan kastar Kjartan vápnum ok vildi þá eigi verja sik,

18147 = en þó var hann lítt sárr, en ákafliga vígmóðr.

30285 = Engi veitti Bolli svör máli Kjartans, en þó veitti hann honum banasár.

18422 = Bolli settist þegar undir herðar honum,

12191 = ok andaðist Kjartan í knjám Bolla.

24468 = Iðraðist Bolli þegar verksins ok lýsti vígi á hendr sér.

18025 = Bolli sendi þá Ósvífrssonu til heraðs,

18140 = en hann var eftir ok Þórarinn hjá líkunum.

29036 = Ok er þeir Ósvífrssynir kómu til Lauga, þá sögðu þeir tíðendin.

25422 = Guðrún lét vel yfir, ok var þá bundit um höndina Þórólfs.

20326 = Greri hon seint ok varð honum aldregi meinlaus.

15491 = Lík Kjartans var fært heim í Tungu.

11443 = Síðan reið Bolli heim til Lauga.

27958 = Guðrún gekk í móti honum ok spurði, hversu framorðit væri.

15348 = Bolli kvað þá vera nær nóni dags þess.

7529 = Þá mælti Guðrún:

12881 = „Misjöfn verða morginverkin.

23371 = Ek hefi spunnit tólf álna garn, en þú hefir vegit Kjartan.”

5842 = Bolli svarar:

18219 = „Þó mætti mér þat óhapp seint ór hug ganga,

13611 = þóttú minntir mik ekki á þat.”

6533 = Guðrún mælti:

12628 = „Ekki tel ek slíkt með óhöppum.

22238 = Þótti mér sem þú hefðir meiri metorð þann vetr,

11993 = er Kjartan var í Nóregi, en nú,

23545 = er hann trað yðr undir fótum, þegar hann kom til Íslands.

21711 = En ek tel þat þó síðast, er mér þykkir mest vert,

18929 = at Hrefna mun eigi ganga hlæjandi at sænginni í kveld.”

13448 = Þá segir Bolli ok var mjök reiðr:

26272 = „Ósýnt þykkir mér, at hon fölni meir við þessi tíðendi en þú,

20525 = ok þat grunar mik, at þú brygðir þér minnr við,

27292 = þó at vér lægim eftir á vígvellinum, en Kjartan segði frá tíðendum.”

17507 = Guðrún fann þá, at Bolli reiddist, ok mælti:

25729 = „Haf ekki slíkt við, því at ek kann þér mikla þökk fyrir verkit.

28047 = Þykkir mér nú þat vitat, at þú vill ekki gera í móti skapi mínu.”

2173028

***

Calculator for converting letters to cipher values is at:

http://www.light-of-truth.com/ciphersaga.htm

¹Abomination of Desolation

Message posted to friends on 26 February 2014:

While in Iceland last August, I met with Pétur Halldórsson at the Cafe Milano in Reykjavík. We discussed matters of mutual interest, including what my Saga Cipher work might “mean“.

I took a napkin and, for emphasis, wrote down the number 438097. This is the Cipher Sum of some three dozen names of persons, institutions, dates and events during the reference period, including two famous murder cases, a sex scandal in high places, and presumptive lies told in connection therewith.

I told Pétur (what I had long surmised) that I believed that this number was associated with a watershed event in human history whose final phase was upon our world.

An earth-shaking culmination of human and spiritual evolution.

²Translation

http://sagadb.org/laxdaela_saga.en

Now Kjartan rode south through the dale, he and they three together, himself, An the Black, and Thorarin.

Thorkell was the name of a man who lived at Goat-peaks in Swinedale, where now there is waste land. He had been seeing after his horses that day, and a shepherd of his with him. They saw the two parties, the men of Laugar in ambush and Kjartan and his where they were riding down the dale three together. Then the shepherd said they had better turn to meet Kjartan and his; it would be, quoth he, a great good hap to them if they could stave off so great a trouble as now both sides were steering into. Thorkell said, „Hold your tongue at once. Do you think, fool as you are, you will ever give life to a man to whom fate has ordained death? And, truth to tell, I would spare neither of them from having now as evil dealings together as they like. It seems to me a better plan for us to get to a place where we stand in danger of nothing, and from where we can have a good look at their meeting, so as to have some fun over theirplay. For all men make a marvel thereof, how Kjartan is of all men the best skilled at arms. I think he will want it now, for we two know how overwhelming the odds are.“ And so it had to be as Thorkell wished.

Kjartan and his followers now rode on to Goat-gill. On the other hand the sons of Osvif misdoubt them why Bolli should have sought out a place for himself from where he might well be seen by men riding from the west. So they now put their heads together, and, being of one mind that Bolli was playing them false, they go for him up unto the brink and took to wrestling and horse-playing with him, and took him by the feet and dragged him down over the brink.

But Kjartan and his followers came up apace as they were riding fast, and when they came to the south side of the gill they saw the ambush and knew the men. Kjartan at once sprung off his horse and turned upon the sons of Osvif. There stood near by a great stone, against which Kjartan ordered they should wait the onset (he and his). Before they met Kjartan flung his spear, and it struck through Thorolf’s shield above the handle, so that therewith the shield was pressed against him, the spear piercing the shield and the arm above the elbow, where it sundered the main muscle, Thorolf dropping the shield, and his arm being of no avail to him through the day. Thereupon Kjartan drew his sword, but he held not the „King’s-gift.“ The sons of Thorhalla went at Thorarin, for that was the task allotted to them. That outset was ahard one, for Thorarin was mightily strong, and it was hard to tell which would outlast the other. Osvif’s sons and Gudlaug set on Kjartan, they being five together, and Kjartan and An but two. An warded himself valiantly, and would ever be going in front of Kjartan.

Bolli stood aloof with Footbiter. Kjartan smote hard, but his sword was of little avail (and bent so), he often had to straighten it under his foot. In this attack both the sons of Osvif and An were wounded, but Kjartan had no wound as yet. Kjartan fought so swiftly and dauntlessly that Osvif’s sons recoiled and turned to where An was. At that moment An fell, having fought for some time, with his inwards coming out. In this attack Kjartan cut off one leg of Gudlaug above the knee, and that hurt was enough to cause death. Then the four sons of Osvif made an onset on Kjartan, but he warded himself so bravely that in no way did he give them the chance of any advantage.

Then spake Kjartan, „Kinsman Bolli, why did you leave home if you meant quietly to stand by? Now the choice lies before you, to help one side or the other, and try now how Footbiter will do.“ Bolli made as if he did not hear. And when Ospak saw that they would no how bear Kjartan over, he egged on Bolli in every way, and said he surely would not wish that shame to follow after him, to have promised them his aid in this fight and not to grant it now. „Why, heavy enough in dealings with us was Kjartan then, when by none so big a deed as this we had offended him; but ifKjartan is now to get away from us, then for you, Bolli, as even for us, the way to exceeding hardships will be equally short.“

Then Bolli drew Footbiter, and now turned upon Kjartan. Then Kjartan said to Bolli, „Surely thou art minded now, my kinsman, to do a dastard’s deed; but oh, my kinsman, I am much more fain to take my death from you than to cause the same to you myself.“

Then Kjartan flung away his weapons and would defend himself no longer; yet he was but slightly wounded, though very tired with fighting. Bolli gave no answer to Kjartan’s words, but all the same he dealt him his death-wound. And straightway Bolli sat down under the shoulders of him, and Kjartan breathed his last in the lap of Bolli. Bolli rued at once his deed, and declared the manslaughter due to his hand.

Bolli sent the sons of Osvif into the countryside, but he stayed behind together with Thorarin by the dead bodies. And when the sons of Osvif came to Laugar they told the tidings. Gudrun gave out her pleasure thereat, and then the arm of Thorolf was bound up; it healed slowly, and was never after any use to him. The body of Kjartan was brought home to Tongue, but Bolli rode home to Laugar. Gudrun went to meet him, and asked what time of day it was. Bolli said it was near noontide.

Then spake Gudrun, „Harm spurs on to hard deeds (work); I have spun yarn for twelve ells of homespun, and you have killed Kjartan.“ Bolli replied, „That unhappy deed might well go late from my mind even if you did not remind me of it.“ Gudrun said „Such things I do not count among mishaps. It seemed to me you stood in higher station during the year Kjartan was in Norway than now, when he trod you under foot when he came back to Iceland. But I count that last which to me is dearest, that Hrefna will not go laughing to her bed to-night.“

Then Bolli said and right wroth he was, „I think it is quite uncertain that she will turn paler at these tidings than you do; and I have my doubts as to whether you would not have been less startled if I had been lying behind on the field of battle, and Kjartan had told the tidings.“

Gudrun saw that Bolli was wroth, and spake, „Do not upbraid me with such things, for I am very grateful to you for your deed; for now I think I know that you will not do anything against my mind.“