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During
the lifetime of the children of Bjorn skafinn, the road between
Njardvik and Borgarfiord, over the so-called Njardvik-scree, fell into
disuse. The reason for
this was that an evil being, whose upper part was in the shape of a
man and the lower of a beast, would lie in wait for men on the road
when nights began to get dark, killing many, so that it became
impossible to go that way. The
monster hid in a gully on the Njardvik side of the Scree, since known
as Naddagil; for on autumn and winter evenings, a noise of grinding
and clashing stones could be heard all the way to Njardvik.
For this reason also the monster was called Naddi, which means
the gnasher.
Once, when autumn was
far advanced, Jon Bjarnarson arrived late in the evening at Snotrunes
in Borgarfiord and intended to go on to Njardvik.
Since it was after sunset, though, men urged him not to take
such a risk and travel over the Scree so late.
However, he paid no heed to their warnings, saying that he
would come to no harm, for there was not the least danger, and so he
set off on his way. But
when he got to the gully, the monster appeared and attacked him.
Their struggle was long
and fierce. They fought
all the way to the bank known as Krossjadar.
Here, said Jon, the monster tore itself away from him and
crawled into the sea. A cross was set up at the place afterwards, and stands there
still, with an inscription in Latin bidding travellers kneel down and
say a paternoster, and this custom was observed for many years.
Jon reached Njardvik
much the worse for wear, black and blue all over, and kept to his bed
for a month after which he got up.
He maintained that the
monster had come up out of the sea, since it returned thither at the
last. However, it was
never seen again after their encounter.
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