replied, that he would consult with his wife, and she bidding him decide,
he accepted the invitation. "I will come after you on the morrow with a
sumpter-horse, for I am not lacking in means wherewith to provide for you
both, although it will be lonely living with me, since there are but two
of us, my wife and myself, for I, forsooth, am a very hard man to get on
with; moreover, my faith is not the same as yours, albeit methinks that
is the better to which you hold." He returned for them on the morrow,
with the beast, and they took up their home with Thorstein the Swarthy,
and were well treated by him. Gudrid was a woman of fine presence, and a
clever woman, and very happy in adapting herself to strangers.

Early in the winter Thorstein Ericsson's party was visited by sickness,
and many of his companions died. He caused coffins to be made for the
bodies of the dead, and had them conveyed to the ship, and bestowed
there; "for it is my purpose to have all the bodies taken to Ericsfirth
in the summer." It was not long before illness appeared in Thorstein's
home, and his wife, whose name was Grimhild, was first taken sick. She
was a very vigorous woman, and as strong as a man, but the sickness
mastered her; and soon thereafter Thorstein Ericsson was seized with the
illness, and they both lay ill at the same time, and Grimhild, Thorstein
the Swarthy's wife, died, and when she was dead Thorstein went out of the
room to procure a deal, upon which to lay the corpse. Thereupon Gudrid
spoke. "Do not be absent long, Thorstein mine!" says she. He replied,
that so it should be. Thorstein Ericsson then exclaimed: "Our house-wife
is acting now in a marvellous fashion, for she is raising herself up on
her elbow, and stretching out her feet from the side of the bed, and
groping after her shoes." At that moment Thorstein, the master of the
house, entered, and Grimhild laid herself down, wherewithal every timber
in the room creaked. Thorstein now fashioned a coffin for Grimhild's
body, and bore it away, and cared for it. He was a big man, and strong,