old; he was very strong. As the winter wore on, it often
chanced that the two, Egil and Thord, were matched against
Skallagrim. And once in the winter it so befell that there
was ball-play at Borg, southwards in Sandvik. Thord and
Egil were set against Skallagrim in the game; and he
became weary before them, so that they had the best of it.
But in the evening after sunset it began to go worse with
Egil and his partner. Skallagrim then became so strong
that he caught up Thord and dashed him down so violently
that he was all bruised and at once got his bane. Then he
seized Egil. Now there was a handmaid of Skallagrim's
named Thorgerdr Brak, who had nursed Egil when a child;
she was a big woman, strong as a man, and of magic
cunning. Said Brak:
'Dost thou turn thy shape-strength, Skallagrim, against thy son?'
Whereat Skallagrim let Egil loose, but clutched at her. She broke away and took to her heels with Skallagrim after her. So went they to the utmost point of Digra-ness. Then she leapt out from the rock into the water. Skallagrim hurled after her a great stone, which struck her between the shoulders, and neither ever came up again. The water there is now called Brakar-sound. But afterwards, in the evening, when they came home to Borg, Egil was very angry. Skallagrim and everybody else were set at table, but Egil had not yet come to his place. He went into the fire-hall, and up to the man who there had the overseeing of work and the management of moneys for Skallagrim, and was most dear to him. Egil dealt him his deathblow, then went to his seat. Skallagrim spoke not a word about it then, and thenceforward the matter was kept quiet. But father and son exchanged no word good or bad, and so that winter passed.
The next summer after this Thorolf came out, as was told above. And when he had been in Iceland one winter, in the spring following he made ready his ship in Brakarsound. But when he was quite ready, then one day Egil went to his father, and asked him to give him an outfit.
'I wish,' said he, 'to go out with Thorolf.'
Skallagrim asked if he had spoken at all on that matter with Thorolf. Egil said he had not. Skallagrim bade him