an he
was, and had to wife Steinun, daughter of Rut of Combeness; Thorleif
of Lavadale, the father of Steinulf, was a very mighty man, and from
him are come the men of Lavadale.

Now nought more is told of the dealings of Grettir with the Marsh-men
while he was on the mountain; Biorn still kept up his friendship
with him, though his friends grew somewhat the fewer for that he let
Grettir abide there, because men took it ill that their kin should
fall unatoned.

At the time of the Thing, Grettir departed from the Marsh-country, and
went to Burgfirth and found Grim Thorhallson, and sought counsel of
him, as to what to do now. Grim said he had no strength to keep him,
therefore fared Grettir to find Hallmund his friend, and dwelt there
that summer till it wore to its latter end.

In the autumn Grettir went to Goatland, and waited there till bright
weather came on; then he went up to Goatland Jokul, and made for
the south-east, and had with him a kettle, and tools to strike fire
withal. But men deem that he went there by the counsel of Hallmund,
for far and wide was the land known of him.

So Grettir went on till he found a dale in the jokul, long and
somewhat narrow, locked up by jokuls all about, in such wise that
they overhung the dale. He came down somehow, and then he saw fair
hill-sides grass-grown and set with bushes. Hot springs there were
therein, and it seemed to him that it was by reason of earth-fires
that the ice-cliffs did not close up over the vale.

A little river ran along down the dale, with level shores on either
side thereof. There the sun came but seldom; but he deemed he might
scarcely tell over the sheep that were in that valley, so many they
were; and far better and fatter than any he had ever seen.

Now Grettir abode there, and made himself a hut of such wood as he
could come by. He took of the sheep for his meat, and there was more
on one of them than on two elsewhere: one ewe there was, brown with a
polled head, with her lamb, that he deemed the greatest beauty for
her goodly growth. He was fain to take the lamb, and so he did, and
thereafter slaughtered it: three stone of suet there was in it, but
the whole carcase was even better. But when Brownhead missed her lamb,
she went up on Grettir's hut every night, and bleated in suchwise that
he might not sleep anight, so that it misliked him above all things
that he had slaughtered the lamb, because of her troubling.

But every evening at twi