h Christian men
and heathen whether they will hold to those laws which I utter".

They all say they would.

He said he wished to take an oath of them, and pledges that they would
hold to them, and they all said "yea" to that, and so he took pledges
from them.

"This is the beginning of our laws," he said, "that all men shall be
Christian here in the land, and believe in one God, the Father, the Son,
and the Holy Ghost, but leave off all idol-worship, not expose children
to perish, and not eat horseflesh. It shall be outlawry if such things
are proved openly against any man; but if these things are done by
stealth, then it shall be blameless."

But all this heathendom was all done away with within a few years'
space, so that those things were not allowed to be done either by
stealth or openly.

Thorgeir then uttered the law as to keeping the Lord's day and fast
days, Yuletide and Easter, and all the greatest highdays and holidays.

The heathen men thought they had been greatly cheated; but still the
true faith was brought into the law, and so all men became Christian
here in the land.

After that men fare home from the Thing.

CHAPTER CII.

THE WEDDING OF HAUSKULD, THE PRIEST OF WHITENESS.

Now we must take up the story, and say that Njal spoke thus to Hauskuld,
his foster-son, and said--

"I would seek thee a match."

Hauskuld bade him settle the matter as he pleased, and asked whether he
was most likely to turn his eyes.

"There is a woman called Hildigunna," answers Njal, "and she is the
daughter of Starkad, the son of Thord Freyspriest. She is the best match
I know of."

"See thou to it, foster-father," said Hauskuld; "that shall be my choice
which thou choosest."

"Then we will look thitherward," says Njal.

A little while after, Njal called on men to go along with him. Then the
sons of Sigfus, and Njal's sons, and Kari Solmund's son, all of them
fared with him and they rode east to Swinefell.

There they got a hearty welcome.

The day after, Njal and Flosi went to talk alone, and the speech of Njal
ended thus, that he said--

"This is my errand here, that we have set out on a wooing-journey, to
ask for thy kinswoman Hildigunna."

"At whose hand?" says Flosi.

"At the hand of Hauskuld my foster-son," says Njal.

"Such things are well meant," says Flosi, "but still ye run each of you
great risk, the one from the other; but what hast thou to say of
Hauskuld?"

"Good I am able t