"SEASON OF THE WITCH" "So, what's your favorite place to party, Sólrún?" "Kjartan Arnarson's cock." "I feel like the editor has put me six feet under." "We're here to see the theatre group of Akureyri college." "They're staging Loftur the Sorcerer over Easter." "Skarphéðinn, try being a little more grounded." "Is there a search out for Skarphéðinn?" "Yes, we've been searching since this morning and now the police is involved." "There's been an accident on an adventure safari." "Are you going to make some- thing sensational out of this?" "Can't you stick to your shoddy reporting in Reykjavík?" "But why would you say that your daughter's death wasn't an accident?" "Because she was murdered!" "Murdered in cold blood." "EPISODE 2" "Good day." "Good day." "My name is Einar and I'm meeting with Ólafur Gísli Kristjánsson." "The chief?" "Come in." "Thank you." "It's Einar." "Yes, come on in." "Good day." "My name is Einar, a reporter for the Evening Press." "Yes, hello." "I need... some information about the search for Skarphedinn Valgardsson." "Unfortunately, it's been unsuccessful so far." "Have many people joined in on the search?" "All available personnel have been alerted, both police and the rescue teams." "Found any clues?" "Nothing we can't give to the media at this point." "Is it because you don't have any information or because you don't want to give it to the media?" "Who do you think you are?" "A jou... jou... journalist." "I know what you are." "You are a scandal- monger from the city with a big attitude." "If you think that will help you spread dirt in Akureyri, you're mistaken." "I had no intention of flinging any dirt around." "You're infamous among the Reykjavík police for not playing by the rules." "I simply decide for myself what's news and what isn't." "You think you're God's chosen crusader for the truth." "We're still allowed to express ourselves in this country, aren't we?" "We don't need people like you here in Akureyri." "And freedom of the press." "But seeing as you've dragged your sorry ass down here already, there's only one thing that keeps me from throwing you out." "And what's that?" "No, make that two things." "First of all, my abundant kindness and tolerance for troublemakers of all kind." "No, better make it three." "Second, it's our duty as a police officers to maintain good relations with the public and the media." "Relax." "And the third?" "Third, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt," "At least for now, because my friend, Ásbjörn, asked me to." "So you're the friend that Ásbjörn has at the station?" "Yes." "We went to college here together." "Became inseparable." "Shouldn't we start again from the beginning, then?" "You're Ólafur Gísli Kristjánsson, right?" "Yes, that's me." "Ásbjörn told me... that you might prove to be difficult." "But he also told me that you can be trusted when you're asked for favors." "Well, I'll be!" "But I can't provide you with any information about Skarphéðinn's disappearance at this time." "People agree that he was a responsible young man." "One more thing." "About the woman who died in the river..." "Is that case under investigation?" "Why do you ask?" "Just curious." "We are waiting for the results of the autopsy." "There's nothing that indicates that it was anything but an accident." "Be careful." "Remember, you're not in Reykjavík anymore." "Even elephants can learn how to be careful." "Hello, Kjartan." "Hello." "How did you like... the apology from the news editor?" "Yes, I read it." "I guess it'll do." "You kept your word." "It's more than I dared hope." "Listen..." "Is Skarphéðinn Valgardsson your student?" "Yes, I taught him Icelandic and literature." "Excellent student." "But I have no idea what has happened to him, unfortunately." "It's all very sad." "Yes, it's most unfortunate." "I'll see you around." "I can't live like this!" "The stench of cigarettes wafts through the floor and into the bedroom." "I know." "I didn't put these floorboards in!" "Didn't put them in?" "It's just an old house." "My goodness, I am changing the sheets almost every day!" "And you want me to... to..." "I am very sensitive to cigarette smoke and..." "I know!" "It's not good for the dog." "It's an award-winning dog." "It's a purebread, and... and smoking like this is simply not allowed!" "I'll just talk to Einar, I'll talk to him, and..." "And who's going to clean the toilet?" "If you think I'm going to be cleaning up crap from reporters, then think again!" "They'll just have to crap somewhere else, then!" "Yes, they'll just have to do that!" "And what about Jóa, why can't she help around the office?" "She just goes around taking photos all the time!" "Well, she was hired to help out..." "And what did she do?" "Study photography?" "Does this have to mean she can't she do anything else?" "We hired her because she also studied literature." "She has knowledge of..." "Well, how about sorting all those books that are lying around?" "Is that my job now?" "!" "No, she can't!" "Her job is to take pictures!" "Aggi is not so bad, even though he's lost his way." "He was teased as a boy about his family's origin." "Poor thing." "I thought I saw Aggi cruising around Akureyri the other night." "Yes, that's possible." "They were all thrown out of Baukurinn, as usual." "In those cases, they like to come over to Akureyri and continue their partying." "So things have been quiet at Baukurinn for the last couple of nights?" "Last night, yes." "There was some unrest the night before." "Nothing new." "Nothing important." "Just the same old story." "Thanks for your time." "There'll be no more crapping." "I'll see to that." "Nothing will be done to upset you." "Nothing!" "I'll put my foot down!" "I don't have any control over my life." "Not even what I watch on TV." "I'd rather watch a decent action program." "Some blood and guns!" "Not this dumbed- down bullshit." "Morse and Taggart." "What happened to those gentlemen?" "I've been thinking about what you said yesterday, Gunnhildur." "Don't speak so loudly, boy." "Sorry." "Do you think I'm deaf?" "Do you want the Guiding Light mafia to start harassing me?" "No, God help us!" "God!" "He doesn't help anyone." "He's utterly useless." "He didn't help my Dísa Björk... with the problems she was facing." "And what was she facing?" "She was murdered in cold blood." "As cold as can run through human veins?" "Yes, how did you know that?" "Who killed her?" "That devil Geiri, of course." "Who else?" "Geiri?" "Do you mean her husband?" "Ásgeir Eyvindarson?" "Yes." "He and nobody else!" "Why would he kill his wife?" "Out of evil." "Malice." "And how did he do that?" "She fell into the river with many witnesses present." "You're just like the police." "Thinking that I'm just a crazy old woman." "Well, talking's cheap." "Where's the evidence?" "Evidence?" "How can I be expected to provide evidence, an old crazy lady, locked away in a nursing home?" "What about clues, then?" "Clues?" "How's this for a clue?" "Dísa Björk never wanted to go on that damn safari in the first place!" "How about I throw in another?" "She and Geiri never saw eye to eye as how to run the Candy Factory." "What about the fact that he went partying while his wife was fighting for her life in the hospital?" "Well, these could be clues as to something or another." "But of murder?" "That's not so plain to see, Gunnhildur." "Well, in that case, you're useless." "Just leave." "Why did you call me?" "I'm new here in Akureyri." "You don't know me at all." "No, I don't know you." "I just read your article about Dísa Björk in the paper." "I read the article about those people who lost their dog." "That is why I called you." "But I can see now that it was pointless." "Get out." "Go, and let an old woman cry in peace." "What's going on?" "We are waiting for a statement." "About time, too." "I'm already past my deadline." "What do we know so far?" "Just that a body was found here last night." "That's it." "Hello, all of you." "There is not much I can say at this point." "Again with the "point." What would they without it?" "Here, at the Eyjafjörður metal dumpsite, a body was discovered early this morning." "The police and the search team found it at around 05.30." "A watchman doing his rounds... saw smoke rising from the dumpsite, which is unusual during that time of night and during the holidays for that matter, so he alerted the police." "Is the body of a man?" "It seems very likely." "But it's too early to confirm." "So the body is badly damaged?" "As for that, I have no comments at this point." "There is smoke rising from the dumpsite." "Can we assume the man was set on fire?" "That's an inappropriate question at this point." "We have yet to determine the identity of the deceased and notify his next of kin." "Can you confirm that tires have been set on fire?" "Yes, that much I can confirm." "Is it too early, then, to assume that the body is that of Skarphéðinn Valgarðsson?" "That would be very unwise at this point." "But he has not been found?" "No, he has not been found." "Has anyone else been declared missing in Akureyri these last hours or days?" "No." "Nothing that the police has been notified about." "I'm sorry, but I have no further information to give at this point." "Thank you." "According to Evening Press sources, preliminary research has concluded that Skarphéðinn was murdered, but not on the spot where his body was found." "Who are his damn sources, anyway?" "!" "All the media is going crazy over his scoops!" "Well, hardly the Akureyri Weekly Post." "I thought you people stayed away from all the "negative" news." "Not digging up dirt or flinging mud, like us in the south." "You should try to being me for a few months." "You'd be a changed man afterwards." "A better man?" "A different man." "I'll let you in on one thing though." "That is, if you don't know it already through your excellent sources..." "The word's going around that there's a direct link between the gang from Húsavík and Skarphéðinn's disappearance." "In fact, I saw Agnar Hansen cruising in downtown Akureyri on Wednesday evening, the night that Skarphéðinn disappeared." "Have you told the police?" "I haven't, actually." "No?" "I didn't know whose body it was until last night, and I had no idea that foul play was even involved." "In addition, no one has mentioned the Húsavík gang in this context." "Not to me, anyway." "Not until you did, just now." "Pay attention." "Lovely, the Easter weather." "Oh, really?" "It's a wonderful time of year." "Is Skarphéðinn's cause of death known?" "It seems that he died of a head injury sustained by falling." "So he fell?" "He wasn't hit on the head?" "You heard me." "There's a wound on the brain that's not on the same spot as the wound on his skull." "That indicates that the head was moving when it struck against a barrier." "It's on the move, unlike when people are beaten where they stand." "In those cases, the inner lesion is usually on the same place as the injury on the skull." "Is it possible that he... didn't fall by accident?" "Have you ever heard of someone who falls to death, by his own volition," "or by accident, who stands up again, moves his body somewhere else, and attempts to set it on fire?" "No, I haven't." "This is awful, simply awful." "It's an awful mess to find oneself in." "Do you mean...?" "My work here was supposed to finish today." "Oh, I see." "Worse still is what Skarphéðinn's family and friends are going through." "Yeah, I guess." "But I've heard that his family is a bit strange." "How?" "I don't know much about Skarphéðinn's private life." "I know his younger brother, Rúnar, a little bit, he was working on the production with us." "But Skarphéðinn didn't live with his parents." "I'll have another beer, please." "Thanks." "Skarphéðinn struck me as an independent young man, when I met him at Hólar, when you were rehearsing." "Yeah, that's one way to put it." "He had strong opinions." "Sometimes a bit too strong, for my tastes." "Did you two have arguments?" "Thank you." "Thank you." "Has somebody said so?" "Who says so?" "Nobody has." "I'm just asking." "Skarphéðinn was quite a good looking guy?" "Was he a good actor?" "Promising." "He was a little more experienced than the others." "Oh, how so?" "Didn't you know?" "Don't you remember "The Knight of the Streets?"" ""The Knight of the Streets?"" "A teen film." "I don't quite remember if I remember." "Skarphéðinn was in the lead role." "How long ago was this?" "About five or six years ago." "Skarphéðinn must've been fifteen or sixteen." "I can't remember." "I have no diagrams sketching out his life." "I just met him, like the rest of the kids, in the theatre society three weeks ago." "Did you have a role in "The Knight of the Streets?"" "Actually, I did." "A small part." "A cop." "But you just said that you met Skarphéðinn a few weeks ago." "Alright, since we are hanging onto words now..." "Yes, I said I didn't get to know him until now." "Even though we may have met one day during the shoot, six years ago." "Did you go attend the post-rehearsal party?" "Yes." "I dropped by." "Had two beers and then I went to bed at the hotel." "I was opposed, of course, to the kids having a party, the night before the premiere." "Where was the party?" "At Ágústa's, the chairperson of the theatre society." "The one who has the role of Steinunn." "And Skarphéðinn was there?" "Yes, he was." "How did he behave at the party?" "Well..." "He seemed sober enough to me." "But..." "But what?" "He was wearing a dress!" "The fire department was working on the fire until five o'clock this morning." "How the fire started is currently not known." "The vice chairman of the elderly citizen society claims that those who are not connected to the internet feel closed off from the rest of the community." "There is a growing demand for communication and business take place..." "What do you want?" "Hiya bud, Trausti Löve here." "I need you to go to Húsavík tomorrow." "What kind of slavery is this?" "Can't I even relax for a day?" "I'm not relaxing, buddy." "I'm talking to you." "A body has been discovered, and there's a missing persons investigation." "Isn't that more interesting news than boundless bullshit from politicians who only say what gets them through the elections?" "You stop your boundless bullshit!" "Tensions are at an all-time high in Húsavík and we can't miss what happens, when it happens." "Sorry about that." "Here's where the party's at." "Let's take a look." "We can, up to a degree, congratulate the government on the economic investments that now give us greater hope for the employment and welfare opportunities in our community." "But, my good people of Húsavík, is this the real picture?" "I could've written this story blindfolded in my closet in Akureyri." "...we are facing un- forseeable consequences of a disastrous rural policy." "A policy that relies on heavy industry..." "Hi." "Hi." "and construction of power plants..." "Nice turnout." "...with the requisite environmental damages, the worst..." "Has Agnar Hansen shown himself?" "The future of this place is not Aggi's main concern." "He leaves that to his father." "Doesn't Aggi have a job?" "Depends on what you call a job." "Lack of initiative..." "Can I have a cup of coffee?" "...short-term goals, and short-term profits... have characterized government policies when it comes to the issues of our community." "And others, too, which are on the brink of bankruptcy." "The future of the our natural environment is the new war!" "Who cares about stupid nature?" "We are broke, you dumbass!" "I find it difficult to accept that those of us who still live here have to compromise our freedom." "We can't go out in the evenings, due to fear of violence and mob rule!" "and threats of violence from drugged out, alcohol-ridden trash!" "Local as well as foreign." "This is not the way it was before the age of optimism." "My words aren't directed to the Martians in Reykjavík, but to the town council." "Thank you." "I appreciate the inquiry and I understand your concerns." "It's an issue that's under constant deliberation by every spokesperson in the community." "Are you aware of all that we're always getting travelling salesmen from Reykjavik with young girls for rent." "Does the town council support prostitution?" "Has the town council prepared a plan to deal with the possibility that Húsavík, just like Iceland as a whole, becomes a destination of international organized crime?" "Will Jóhann Hansen take it upon himself to protect our children against drugs and violence?" "WHO WILL PROTECT OUR CHILDREN AGAINST ORGANIZED CRIME?" "Einar?" "Óli Gísli will call you in a minute or two." "There's going to be a scoop." "Great." "Thanks." "He said that you'd been a real smart ass at the dumpsite." "Me?" "A smart ass?" "I was just asking questions that seemed quite obvious." "Easy, now." "He told me that it would probably be a good idea if you were even a bigger smart ass in public." "And he would do the same." "That would make it more difficult for the police and the media to trace the source of the information." "He's right." "But everything has to go through me, understand?" "In the utmost of confidence." "Utmost of confidence." "Are you still getting those mysterious phone calls?" "It's strange, but they stopped after I told you about them." "Excellent." "That means my arrangements have worked." "What arrangements?" "You just let me know if they continue." "What arrangements?" "Sorry, but it's in the utmost of confidence and has to go through me." "How would you describe Skarphéðinn as a person?" "He struck me as something that's vaguely called an old soul." "In some ways, he seemed to me almost ancient in thinking." "He was very preoccupied with Icelandic history." "He took a special interest in Hólar in Hjaltadalur, our ancient educational centre here in the north, and the predecessor of our University." "He placed great importance on the connection between power and progress." "Maybe he became interested in Hólar and Loftur the Sorcerer when I took the students there on a field trip." "I regularly take my students on field trips to the places we read about in the literature, the Sagas." "We'll be heading to Drangey soon, for example." "Really?" "So you're reading the Saga of Grettir?" "Yes." "Are you familiar with it?" "A little." "Would you like to join us?" "Well, that's an idea." "It's quite the experience." "Too bad I'm so afraid of heights." "Give me a call if you decide to go." "Sure thing." "Isn't it strange throwing a party the day before the premiere?" "Well, the thing is... we just wanted to relax a bit before the premiere." "I had the house to myself and spread the word that I had an "open house."" "So the party wasn't just for the theatre group?" "Sometimes you get more people than you invited." "So the guests were all over the house without you being aware or knowing them?" "Yes, probably." "How..." "How are you feeling?" "Crappy, thank you very much." "I haven't slept for three nights." "Do you have a cigarette?" "When did Skarphéðinn arrive at the party?" "I've already told the police everything I know." "I'm not sure." "Maybe around eleven." "Do you know when he left?" "And with whom?" "Don't have a clue." "Did everyone have a lot to drink?" "It was just your average party." "The director, Örvar Páll." "How did he and Skarphéðinn get along?" "Well enough, I think." "Considering that Skarphéðinn had stronger views on the play than the director." "Örvar claims he was against the idea of throwing a party the day before the premiere." "Is that true?" "Yeah, he was whining about that to Skarphéðinn." "Is it possible that Örvar Páll was infatuated with Skarphéðinn?" "Örvar!" "Well, he wouldn't have been the only one." "Tell me about Skarphéðinn's parents." "Did they get along?" "Did they argue?" "Not that I know of." "Why do you ask?" "Well, he didn't live with them." "That's the way Skarphéðinn liked it." "He wanted to stand on his own two feet." "Rúnar, his younger brother, was working with you on the production, wasn't he?" "Yes." "Were they close?" "Yes, very." "But who were his best friends?" "Whom else should I talk to?" "Skarphéðinn has many friends." "Skarphéðinn had many friends." "From different circles." "The theatre group is a close-knit group of friends." "We see each other a lot." "You told me the other day that you hadn't noticed anything unusual about Skarphéðinn that night." "No, and so what?" "I'm told he was wearing a dress." "If you think that's unusual then apparently you didn't know Skarphéðinn!" "Did he normally wear dresses?" "He just enjoyed being alive." "He would do the strangest things." "Besides, it wasn't a normal dress." "No?" "He was wearing a... black gown." "Like a monk?" "No... like a witch." "I'm convinced that Ágústa is hiding something." "Information about this party seems to be hard to come by." "Has the police taken statements from all the guests?" "All the guests?" "And who were they, pray tell?" "Nobody's seems to be able, or interested, in telling us whether... whether he was there and when he left." "Not..." "At this point?" "Couldn't have put it better myself." "We've been on the Facebook pages of some of the party-goers, but found nothing of significance." "What about the forensic evidence?" "Have you been to a dumpsite recently?" "Not since I moved out of my basement apartment in Reykjavík." "Then you should be able to imagine how they look like, and how much forensic evidence can accumulate there in thinkable and unthinkable quantities." "But where do you think Skarphéðinn was killed?" "We think he died at the dumpsite." "We suspect he was pushed off a tower on the premises and that he died immediately upon falling." "Probably somewhere between three o'clock and six o'clock, on the night before Maundy Thursday." "What was done to the body?" "It was dragged away, and then somebody put tires on top of it." "That's quite the relocation." "Do you think there was more than one person at work?" "Not necessarily." "It depends on body mass." "It appears the body wasn't set on fire until Good Friday." "Why not immediately?" "Why wait for 24 hours?" "That's all the questions I have at the moment." "That's a shame." "I'd begun to enjoy our quality time together." "One more thing:" "Any results from the autopsy of the woman who fell into the river?" "Ásdís Björk Guðmundsdóttir?" "Yes... that case." "Well, its like I told you." "The woman fell overboard and hit her head on a rock." "There isn't much else to say." "Sort of like Skarphéðinn's case?" "Yes, now that you mention it." "These are two different cases, and they're strictly confidential." "Not to worry." "Apparently, she'd been taking pills and drinking beer." "So..." "She seems to have been addicted to prescription drugs." "It was a combination of an accident and an act of self-destruction." ""The Knight of the Streets."" "An exciting teenage film about a leader of a biker gang and the daughter of a rich socialite and their battle against dangerous criminals." "Right." "This is exactly what I need." "It's boring." "Nothing special." "Leave, then." "Nobody wants to be around me anyway." "It's was an average kid-romance." "Yet another Romeo and Juliette theme, not bad as such." "I need to find the director." "There's Skarphéðinn in the lead role, doing pretty good." "I thought I saw a face in the cast that I recognized." "I couldn't quite place it before I fell asleep." "I've asked Jóa to assist me around the office." "Karó is not feeling up to it and its just too much work for me alone." "I'm not very busy photographing so I can easily pick up the slack." "Besides, I'd like to stay here a bit longer anyway." "Clearly." "Snælda and I haven't seen you at the commune for a while." "You've run away from home, and found a new one, perhaps?" "That leaves more time for you and Snælda to get to know each other better." "You need to try something new." "It's really quite tragic." "A coincidence comes to mind that I find a little strange." "What's that?" "I suddenly recalled that Inga Lína, the main actress, the one who had the role of the young girl, was having some problems, and then she died a few years ago." "She must be the face that I recognized." "What was the cause of her death?" "I'm not sure, but I think she was doing drugs or depressed, maybe." "I don't know." "So, both leading actors are dead, before they reach the age of twenty." "That's a strange coincidence alright." "Coincidence?" "A curse would be a more fitting description." "I'm interested in talking to his friends and family so I can gather some information." "Skarphéðinn was my friend, and if there's anything I can do to help find out what happened to him," "I'd be more than happy to help." "But I've already told the police what little I know." "How would you describe Skarphéðinn?" "He was, in many ways, a peculiar guy." "No..." "I can't say it like that on the record." "Can I start over?" "Sure thing." "Skarphéðinn was, in many ways, an unusual man." "He was very good to his friends and did everything he could for them." "The night he disappeared... did you notice anything unusual about him?" "No." "He was just having a good time." "Did he take drugs?" "If he did, I'd never tell you." "Never." "What about the dress he was wearing at the party?" "The witch's dress?" "Yes." "Why did he put it on?" "Because he liked it." "I just told you, he was having a blast." "Tonight I feel like a witch!" "That's why I'm dressed like one!" "I bear the Helm of Awe over all of you!" "I had no idea what he was talking about." "Helm of Awe?" "What is that, anyway?" "I'm not sure." "Anything else that you didn't get that night?" "I can't remember." "I was a bit wired myself, you know?" "Okay." "Oh, wait." "There was this one thing that happened, actually." "We went to the bathroom and he went inside his dress and pulled off a pubic hair." "I thought that was pretty neat!" "What?" "Just that." "Skarphéðinn was an incredible guy." "Fucking unbelievable." "Why did he do that?" "Because he wanted to?" "He just did." "He pulled off an eyelash, put both hairs in a small bowl, and then he lit them on fire." "He put the ashes in his palm, went to the living room and up to some girl," "and put the ashes in her drink." "Why?" "Well, you know." "She didn't notice a thing!" "She had no idea what was going on!" "Who was this girl?" "Don't know." "Just some chick." "Did you inform the police about this?" "No!" "Why would I've done that?" "He was just fooling around." "He was always coming up with stuff like this." "Were you familiar with everyone in the party or was it just people from the theatre group?" "I can't remember." "At first it was only the theatre group." "And that idiot director, whose name I never remember." "Örvar Páll." "Örvar Páll, right." "And they were having an argument, as usual." "They disagreed about the party." "Skarphéðinn got the better of him... as usual." "Did he argue with anyone else that night?" "How am I supposed to know?" "I wasn't tracking his every move!" "You mentioned that there had been... only you guys." "Did someone else show up later?" "A few guys came along that I didn't know at all." "But Skarphéðinn did and threw them out." "He threw them out?" "Fucking right." "He just threw them right out." "How were they like?" "How where they like?" "!" "I mean, what did they look like?" "One of them had a ponytail." "With teeth like a fucking rabbit." "When did Skarphéðinn leave the party?" "I don't know." "I had gone into one of the rooms with some cunt." "Not a bedroom, though." "They were all booked." "Gústa was even in her parents' bedroom, fucking like there was no tomorrow!" "With whom did Ágústa spend the night that evening?" "Skarphéðinn himself, maybe?" "I don't know." "Hello?" "Kjartan Arnarson here." "Hi." "So." "It's Drangey tomorrow morning." "Yeah." "The weather will be good." "Thanks for the heads-up." "You can't come with us, Snælda." "Sorry." "You have to be home alone." "Grettir bathed himself in this pool after he finished swimming from Drangey." "As you can see, he swam quite the distance." "Even today, people are trying to repeat his accomplishment." "But why did he bother swimming across?" "In his exile on Drangey with his brother Illugi, there was also the slave Glaumur, who turned out to be fateful presence, when Þorbjörn the Hook and his men attacked and slew them all." "Glaumur forgot one night to keep an eye on the fire so it went out and Grettir decided to swim for fire to the mainland and came ashore here below, at Reykir." ""It bodes ill to have a slave for a friend."" ""And defenseless are those who have no brothers at their back."" "This is Einar." "He's our guest today." "He knows his Grettis Saga." "Is that from your college days?" "Yes, everything else was just so damn boring and stuffy." "I've always been interested in strong outlaws." "Isn't today much like what it was back then?" "Aren't the chieftains still chasing the outlaws?" "You're right!" "But anyway..." "Grettir, the greatest outlaw and champion in the history of Iceland, took a bath, right here in this pool, and went to Reykjar the following night, whereupon he entered a farm and went to bed, naked." "In the morning he woke up with two women standing over him, looking at him." "They wondered why such a champion was so modestly endowed." "Grettis' response was to recite a poem for them about how size didn't matter and went on to prove it to one of the women." "Cocks all over the place, huh?" "Yes, it is not easy to reach!" "Drangey has, for centuries, been a great source of sustenance for the people of Skagarfjörður." "Here they caught birds and fish, and lowered themselves down the cliffs for puffin eggs." "It was a veritable goldmine for Grettir and his comrades when they settled the island and spent the remaining three years of their exile" "from 1028 until 1031." "For centuries, Drangey belonged to the the church at Hólar, where, incidentally, you've been before." "Where Loftur the Sorcerer resided." "In front of us is Uppgönguvík, the only place on the island where you can actually climb it." "So many people lost their lives climbing here, that many believed that evil forces were at work." "Guðmundur the Kind, the bishop at Hólar, saw that it couldn't go on like this, so he came to consecrate the island." "When he was about to finish the ceremony a paw appears from under the cliff, a big one, carrying a knife, and cut all the ropes on which he was suspended, except one." "So the bishop survived, but hanging on to dear life, he hears a voice coming from the cliff, proclaiming:" ""Consecrate no more, bishop Guðmundur!"" ""For somewhere, evil must also dwell."" "Just imagine..." "When Grettir was slain and his mound erected over there, he was 44, and had been an outlaw since he was your age." "He committed his first murder at the age of fourteen." "Sólrún!" "Oh my God, what's...?"