With trouble the dead man was raised on a litter, and carried to a
gill-edge, but beyond this he could not be borne; his weight waxed more
and more, the bearers toiled beneath their burden, their foreheads
became beaded with sweat; though strong men they were crushed to the
ground. Consequently, the corpse was left at the ravine-head, and the
men returned to the farm. Next day their efforts to lift Glámr's bloated
carcass, and remove it to consecrated ground, were unavailing. On the
third day a priest accompanied them, but the body was nowhere to be
found. Another expedition without the priest was made, and on this
occasion the corpse was discovered; so a cairn was raised over the spot.
Two nights after this one of the thralls who had gone after the cows
burst into the hall with a face blank and scared; he staggered to a seat
and fainted. On recovering his senses, in a broken voice he assured all
who crowded about him that he had seen Glámr walking past him as he left
the door of the stable. On the following evening a houseboy was found in
a fit under the farmyard wall, and he remained an idiot to his dying
day. Some of the women next saw a face which, though blown out and
discoloured, they recognised as that of Glámr, looking in upon them
through a window of the dairy. In the twilight, Thorhall himself met the
dead man, who stood and glowered at him, but made no attempt to injure
his master. The haunting did not end there. Nightly a heavy tread was
heard around the house, and a hand feeling along the walls, sometimes
thrust in at the windows, at others clutching the woodwork, and breaking
it to splinters. However, when the spring came round the disturbances
lessened, and as the sun obtained full power, ceased altogether.
That summer a vessel from Norway dropped anchor in the nearest bay.
Thorhall visited it, and found on board a man named Thorgaut, who was in
search of work.
"What do you say to being my shepherd?" asked the bonder.
"I should very much like the office," answered Thorgaut. "I am as strong
as two ordinary men, and a handy fellow to boot."
"I will not engage you without forewarning you of the terrible things
you may have to encounter during the winter night."
"Pray, what may they be?"
"Ghosts and hobgoblins," answered the farmer; "a fine dance they lead
me, I can promise you."
"I fear them not," answered Thorgaut; "I shall be with you at
cattle-slaughtering time."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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