Excerpt from Gamlaðr Vatn Saga:
In the fall, Daffyd and Mahild took over a farm in the Ford,
and it soon became a fine estate. A son was born to them, named Einar; he was
quickly handsome and precocious. Like his father, Einar was skilled in working
with wood, but soon surpassed him in this ability. Many were the bowl and spoon
carved by Einar’s hands, and many homesteads made use of his work.
Mighty Trumbrand and Queen Kaylah, having heard of Einar’s talents,
came with many warriors, servants and retainers and stayed at the farm in the
Ford. There they watched Einar as he laboured at his trade, and they were much
impressed.
They called Einar before them, and then spoke:
We called on Einar’s
homestead
And found the woodman
shaping;
Armed with blade and
saw-tooth
The wood bent to his
will.
Grand things we saw
him make there,
All of them great
treasures,
Made from mighty oak
trees;
Rewards must now be
given.
And so they gave Einar a ring, marked with the stars of
Orion, so that all who met him would know of his great skill.
The skalds recorded that this happened in the Shire of
Bastille du Lac, on the 31st dagr of Þorri, in the
forty-ninth ár of the worldthing.
Wording by THL Colyne
Stewart, based on excerpts from Laxdæla Saga.
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