According to an anonymously-written book of historical fiction from 14th-century Iceland, a band of twelve Vikings silently landed their ship on the shore of Haramarsey, an island off the western coast of northern Norway. This scene was set around the years 1012 or 1013, when Norway was dominated by two powerful jarls, Eirik and Svein Hakonarson. The master of the island of Haramarsey, was a certain Thorfinn Karsson, a trusted advisor to the jarls. The twelve Vikings landed on the island while Thorfinn was away with most of his fighting force, meeting with the jarls in the Norwegian mainland. Therefore, Thorfinn's wife and daughter were left virtually defenseless on the island.
When the Vikings arrive in Haramarsey, a young wastrel of sixteen or seventeen years of age was the first person to spot them. The young man had been exiled from Iceland and was shipwrecked near Haramarsey. Thorfinn had allowed him to stay on the island and the young man accepted the offer. The stranded boy was a promising prospect-he was tall and immensely strong, with red hair and a freckled angular face. Yet, the youth was a notoriously free spirit, and he neither pledged loyalty to Thorfinn nor took up any jobs on the island. He mainly just loitered about and watched ships sail past. Luckily for the locals, he was lounging by the shore on the day when the Vikings arrived.
Continue reading about the action-packed encounter between young Grettir and the twelve berserkers, HERE.
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