Vápnfirðinga saga
The saga provides a window into how a feud might develop between Icelandic chieftains and demonstrates how a dispute could persist over several generations.
The resulting gap detracts considerably from the overall effect of the saga, its deft characterisations and dramatic chain of events."
Chapters 1-9 The saga begins by introducing the protagonist, Helgi Þorgilsson (Brodd-Helgi), and describes him as a headstrong, vigilant, and unpredictable.
When Helgi reaches the age of twelve, he confronts a ruthless villain named Svart, who terrorizes the people of Hof.
Helgi offers to host the two men as guests but is rebuffed because the Norwegians have heard that he is a greedy and arrogant man.
Two farmers named Thord and Thormod in Helgi's and Geitir's districts, respectively, are engaged in a dispute over tree-cutting and grazing rights.
Helgi decides to slaughter all of the cattle belonging to Thormod and cut down the entire forest, awarding the lumber to Thord.
Suspecting that Helgi will be uncooperative, he instructs his thingmen to disguise themselves as charcoal-makers and to carry the bodies of in their charcoal bins.
Helgi hears this and offers Thorarin 5 stud horses in exchange for his friendship but he returns them at Geitir's request.
Brodd-Helgi correctly interprets this as prophesizing his death at the hands of Geitir but believes the red ox, which avenges him, will be his friend Lyting, when in actuality it turns out to be his son Bjarni.
Bjarni is able to avoid confrontation with the help of informants and manages to escape an ambush by creating a decoy of himself using a wood chopping block.
While traveling to the Althing two springs after Geitr's death, Thorkel manages to confront Bjarni and his men at a hay field on farm called Eyvindastadir.
A few days later Bjarni sends a healer named Thorvard to Krossavik in order to tend Thorkel's wounded arm.
Bjarni invites Thorkel to move his farm to Hof over the winter, which he accepts after they settle legal disputes.
Feuds in medieval Iceland usually began as a retribution homicide over sexual transgression, insult, or physical injury (Firth).
Some back William Miller's argument that chieftains engaged in feuds to "repay insult and injury within a framework of reciprocity" (Firth).
The spur is echoed in Helgi's battle with Svart where he utilizes a flagstone breastplate to gain the upper hand.
Health: The saga is highly concerned with issues of health, from Halla Lýtingardóttir's rejection by her husband Brodd-Helgi due to a chronic illness, to Þorkell Geitisson's limited eyesight and bouts with disease, and to the character of Þorvarðr the physician that limits the bloodshed and ends up being a vehicle of peacemaking between the warring kinsmen.
