A band of outlaws assembled in the great cavern of _Surtur_ and lived upon ponies, sheep and cattle stolen from the farmers near _Kalmungstúnga_, Kalmungs-Tongue, and became a great menace to the entire region. Many attempts had been made to capture them but without avail. Finally a lad volunteered to leave his home and join the outlaws and act in the capacity of a spy. He did his work so well that he won the full confidence of the outlaws for he killed sheep belonging to his own father and brought them to the cave. The time came when, at the signal from the boy, the farmers assembled to take the outlaws unawares. Gathering at the entrance of the side cave in great _Surtshellir_ in large numbers they slew all of the outlaws except _Eyrik_. This man was the strongest of all men of his time and made a stout resistance. However, the farmers hacked at him with their swords and cut off both feet at the ankles and both hands at the wrists. Having no way in which to longer defend himself, _Eyrik_ turned a cartwheel on his bloody stumps across the blistered lava, up the ice slope and to the very summit of the glacier. In this manner he escaped and if you doubt it you can still see the blood red crags of fire scorched lava over which he rolled a human wheel. He is, if this story is true, the only man who has ever gained the summit of this, the second mountain in height in Iceland and from him the mountain takes its name. In the afternoon we came upon the great _Hallmundarhraun_, Hallmundar’s-Lava, twisted, crumpled, cracked and tangled, grey with lichens and Icelandic moss in patches and alive with ptarmigan, plover and whimbrels. Beneath this lava sheet is _Surtshellir_, Surtur’s-Cave. Before we explore this chamber of fire origin it is well to pause for a moment and glance at the Norse mythology relative to _Surtur_. In the _Edda_ of _Saemund_, the Wise, we find the “Song of _Vafthruðnis_.” This is a dialog between _Odin_, who, under the disguise of _Ganrade_, visited the _Jötunori_ to converse with their gigantic chief _Vafthruðnis_, to determine which was the wiser. Their discourse was concerning the origin of the world and the races of men. When _Odin_ entered the giant’s hall he was accosted by the master as follows:— “What mortal he who dares to come, Unbidden, to my awful dome To hold discourse? For never more Shall he his homeward way explore; Unless he happly should exceed, What wisdom is to me decreed.” After a lengthy and interesting dialog, _Odin_ proposes a question which the giant can not answer, so _Vafthruðnis_ replies:— “None know since time its race hath run What _Odin_ whispered to his son. The fate of gods and mystic lore With thee no longer I explore. Thou, by the hand of knowledge led, The fatal stroke of death has fled; And since thy wisdom I have tried, Hear _Vafthruðnis_ thus decide,— ‘In mysteries of every kind, Thou are the wisest of mankind.’”