all told the messenger plainly, step by step, how they must
proceed; and the messenger came back and told Mord and Asgrim all the
counsel that Thorhall bad given.

Then Mord went to the court and took witness, "I take witness to this,
that I bring to naught Eyjolf Bolverk's son's challenge, for that he has
challenged those men out of the inquest who have a lawful right to lie
there; every man has a right to sit on an inquest of neighbours, who
owns three hundreds in land or more, though he may have no dairy-stock;
and he too has the same right who lives by dairy-stock worth the same
sum, though he leases no land."

Then he brought this witness before the court, and then he went whither
the neighbours on the inquest were, and bade them sit down, and said
they were rightfully among the inquest.

Then there was a great shout and cry, and then all men said that Flosi's
and Eyjolf's cause was much shaken, and now men were of one mind as to
this, that the prosecution was better than the defence.

Then Flosi said to Eyjolf--

"Can this be law?"

Eyjolf said he had not wisdom enough to know that for a surety, and then
they sent a man to Skapti, the Speaker of the Law, to ask whether it
were good law, and he sent them back word that it was surely good law,
though few knew it.

Then this was told to Flosi, and Eyjolf Bolverk's son asked the sons of
Sigfus as to the other neighbours who were summoned thither.

They said there were four of them who were wrongly summoned; "for those
sit now at home who were nearer neighbours to the spot".

Then Eyjolf took witness that he challenged all those four men out of
the inquest, and that he did it with lawful form of challenge. After
that he said to the neighbours--

"Ye are bound to render lawful justice to both sides, and now ye shall
go before the court when ye are called, and take witness that ye find
that bar to uttering your finding; that ye are but five summoned to
utter your finding, but that ye ought to be nine; and now Thorhall may
prove and carry his point in every suit, if he can cure this flaw in
this suit."

And now it was plain in everything that Flosi and Eyjolf were very
boastful; and there was a great cry that now the suit for the Burning
was quashed, and that again the defence was better than the prosecution.

Then Asgrim spoke to Mord--

"They know not yet of what to boast ere we have seen my son Thorhall.
Njal told me that he had so taught Thorhall law,