Riders follow Njáls saga’s killing trail to Bergþórshvoll

The Njáls Saga Society held its annual horseback ride on Saturday, taking 60 to 70 participants from Fljótshlíð pasture station across the Markarfljót sands to Bergþórshvoll, mbl.is reports.

Hermann Árnason led the expedition, accompanied by storytellers Friðbjörn Garðarsson, a Supreme Court attorney, and Lárus from Miðhús, a teacher in Hvolsvöllur. Guðni Ágústsson, chairman of the Njáls Saga Society, opened the event with an informal poll on how participants planned to vote in the referendum the following weekend.

Only two people in the group said they intended to vote yes. Guðni joked that they would be killed at Bergþórshvoll that evening, referring to the events of Njáls saga. The joke almost became an ill omen when one of the two fell from his horse and landed in a stream. The group recovered his horses while he climbed safely onto the bank. No one was injured, and there were no repercussions at Bergþórshvoll that evening.

Before setting off, the riders were served sausages while Hermann described the route. The group then rode out across the plain in cloaks, recreating a journey along the trail of one of the saga’s most notorious killings.

The first stop was Aurasel, known as Akratunga at the time depicted in the saga. Friðbjörn and Lárus described two killings said to have taken place there. In the first, Skarphéðinn killed Þráinn Sigfússon. In the second, Gunnar of Hlíðarendi killed Otkell in Kirkjubær.

Otkell had earlier ridden Gunnar down in a field while Gunnar was travelling to Runólfur in Dal. He mocked Gunnar by saying that Gunnar had cried out beneath him. The hero could not tolerate the humiliation, and Otkell was therefore doomed because of those words, according to the account.

Aurasel stands on high ground. Although the group had no views that day, the surrounding landscape would normally include Fljótshlíð, Goðaland and Mýrdalsjökull to the east, Eyjafjallajökull nearby and the Westman Islands to the south.

From Aurasel, the riders continued to Berjanes in West Landeyjar. The route alternated between well-maintained dirt tracks and the sandy, relatively smooth surface of the river sands. The group crossed National Road 1 safely after Þorsteinn Jónsson, the trip’s photographer and driver, stopped traffic with blue flashing lights.

At Berjanes, the riders commemorated Hildigunnur Starkaðardóttir, a powerful figure in the saga. She was married to Höskuldr Þráinsson, whom Njáll fostered after Skarphéðinn killed his father.

Hildigunnur made it a condition of the marriage that Höskuldr become a chieftain. The law was changed to make him the chieftain of Hvítanes, at considerable expense to Mörður Valgarðsson. Mörður subsequently undermined Njáll’s power and became a central figure in the latter part of the saga.

The members of the Njáls Saga Society agreed on the name of the location. Friðbjörn and Lárus believe that Ossabær stood not far from where the group stopped, and they described the event there.