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He was so great a lawyer, that it was impossible to find his equal, he was very wise, and had the gift of foretelling events, he was good at counsel, and of a good disposition, and whatever counsel he gave people was for their best; he was gentle and humane, and got every man out of trouble who came to him in his need. His wife was called Bergthora; she was the daughter of Skarphethin.
'You have plenty of other men whom you can better trust on such business, replied the man, as if he repented of his bargain; but Bergthora only told him that she expected her servants to do as they were bid, and sent the man to put his horse in the stable. During that summer another Thing was held and Njal and his sons went to it, and likewise Gunnar.
Njal and his wife greeted them heartily, and by-and-by Helgi, Njal's son, came, and with him Thorhalla his wife. Then Bergthora, Njal's wife, went up to Hallgerda, and said, 'Give place to Thorhalla, but Hallgerda would not, and she fell to quarrelling with Bergthora, and at last Bergthora taunted Hallgerda with having plotted to do Thorwald her husband to death.
But Bergthora made answer: 'Long years from my youth have I lived with Njal, and I vowed on the day of betrothal that his death should be mine; and without more words they went into the house.
'They are true words, she said again; 'and that you may know them to be true, I will give you a sign. Before the meat that is on the board to-night is eaten, Grim and Helgi will be in the house! and she held her peace and went out. When the food was prepared, Bergthora called to them, and all sat down but Njal, who lingered in the doorway.
'May a curse be upon you! she cried, shaking her stick over it; and Skarphedinn, who had followed after her, asked wherefore she was wroth with the pile. 'Because with the fire lighted from this pile there will be a great burning, said she. 'And Njal and his sons will be burnt, and Bergthora, my foster-child.
He was skilled in many things, he said, but his temper was hot, and had oftentimes been his bane. 'I will give you work, answered Bergthora, 'but you must do whatever I bid you, even though it should be to slay a man.
At that Hallgerda turned and said to Gunnar: 'It is nothing to be married to the strongest man in Iceland, if you avenge not these insults, Gunnar. But Gunnar cried that he would take no part in women's quarrels, least of all in Njal's house, and bade Hallgerda come home with him. 'We shall meet again, Bergthora, said Hallgerda as she mounted the sleigh.
At this the men's faces grew pale, and a strange look came into their eyes, but Skarphedinn bade them be of good cheer, and to remember that, whatever might befall, all men would look to them to bear themselves bravely. Then Grim and Helgi entered with their tidings, and every one had in his mind what Bergthora had said, and knew that ill was in store.
'Well, I don't expect Hallgerda will think that he dealt his own death-blow, answered Atli; and with that he rode back to Bergthora, who praised him for the swiftness with which he had done her bidding. But Atli did not seem content, and at last he said: 'What will Njal think?
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