En það sama kveld er þeir Þorkell höfðu drukknað um daginn varð sá atburður
að Helgafelli að
And that same evening when they, Thorkell (and co.) had drowned during the
day that event happened at Helgafell that
Guðrún gekk til kirkju þá er menn voru farnir í rekkjur og er hún gekk í
kirkjugarðshliðið þá sá hún draug standa fyrir sér.
Gudrun went to church then when people had gone to bed and when she went in
the church yard gate, then she saw a spirit standing before her.
Hann laut yfir hana og mælti: "Mikil tíðindi Guðrún," sagði hann.
It bowed over her and spoke, “Serious tidings, Gudrun,” it said.
Guðrún svarar: "Þegi þú yfir þeim þá, armi."
Gudrun answers, “You be quiet about them then, wretch.”
Gekk Guðrún til kirkju svo sem hún hafði áður ætlað og er hún kom til
kirkjunnar þá þóttist hún
Gudrun went to church just as she had previously intended and when she came
to the church then she thought herself to
sjá að þeir Þorkell voru heim komnir og stóðu úti fyrir kirkju. Hún sá að
sjár rann úr klæðum
see that they, Thorkell (and co.) had come home and stood outside before the
church. She saw that the sea ran out of their clothing.
þeirra. Guðrún mælti ekki við þá og gekk inn í kirkju og dvaldist þar slíka
hríð sem henni
Gudrun did not speak with them and went inside into the church and remained
there for such a time as seemed to her
sýndist. Gengur hún síðan inn til stofu því að hún ætlaði að þeir Þorkell
mundu þangað gengnir.
(fitting). She goes afterwards in to the living room because she expected
that they, Thorkell (and co.) would have gone thither.
Og er hún kom í stofuna þá var þar ekki manna. Þá brá Guðrúnu mjög í brún um
atburð þenna allan jafnsaman.
And when she came to the room then there was no man. Then Gudrun was very
startled regarding all those events all the same.
Föstudag hinn langa sendi Guðrún menn sína að forvitnast um ferðir þeirra
Þorkels, suma inn á
On Good Friday, Gudrun sent her men to enquire about their journey, Thorkell’s
(and co.), some (going) in to
Strönd en suma um eyjar. Var þá rekinn víða kominn um eyjarnar og svo til
hvorrartveggju
Strond and some (going) about the islands. Then drifted (timbers) had been
coming ashore widely about the islands also to both
strandar. Þvottdaginn fyrir páska spurðust tíðindin og þóttu vera mikil því
að Þorkell hafði verið
shores. Saturday before Easter, tidings were learned and (people) thought
(them) to be serious because Thorkell had been
mikill höfðingi. Þorkell hafði átta vetur hins fimmta tigar þá er hann
drukknaði en það var fjórum
a great chieftain. Thorkell had had the fiftieth? winter then when he
drowned and it was four
vetrum fyrr en hinn heilagi Ólafur konungur féll. Guðrúnu þótti mikið
fráfall Þorkels en bar þó
years before the holy King Olaf fell. To Gudrun it seemed Thorkell’s
receding? grave, but still she
skörulega af sér. Fátt eina náðist af kirkjuviðinum.
bore up bravely. Only a little of the church wood could be obtained.
Gellir var þá fjórtán vetra gamall. Hann tók þá til búsumsýslu með móður
sinni og tók við
Gellir was then fourteen years old. He took over the household management
with his mother and accepted
mannaforráði. Var það brátt auðsætt á honum að hann var vel til fallinn til
fyrirmanns. Guðrún
authority. It was then soon easy to see that for him that he was well
suited as a foreman. Gudrun
gerðist trúkona mikil. Hún nam fyrst kvenna saltara á Íslandi. Hún var
löngum um nætur að
became a very religious woman. She, learned the psalter, (as) first woman
in Iceland. She was a long time during the night at
kirkju á bænum sínum. Herdís Bolladóttir fór jafnan með henni um næturnar.
Guðrún unni mikið Herdísi.
a chapel on her farm. Herdis, Bolli’s daughter, went with her always during
the night. Gudrun had great affection for Herdis.