Thangbrand preached door-to-door the rest of the autumn, Hall trailing after him. Together, they handed out little Bibles and occasionally tremendous insults.
“I challenge you to a duel!” snarled a man named Thorkel.
The crowd laughed when Thangbrand showed up armed with a giant crucifix – but they stopped laughing as he beat Thorkel to death with it.*
They moved around Iceland as it got too hot for them, staying with various sympathizers. One of them was Hildir the Old, whose son Glum would one day join Flosi’s crack Njal-burning team. But none of them knew this, not even the prophet – and Hildir’s household was baptized without incident.
To and fro they went, converting various relatives of Hall, as well as Flosi, moving gradually closer to Njalville. But one man stood in their way.
“I curse you!” cried out Hedin the Sorcerer. “And just to make sure, I’ll sacrifice this horse!”
“Cool,” said Thangbrand, and then there was a massive earthquake. A great crack opened under his horse, but Thangbrand leapt clear. The horse was never seen again.
Hedin facepalmed. “Should have been a human sacrifice, for the resonance.”
“Praise God!” called out Thangbrand in a mighty voice.
* The nails were arguably cheating.
Saxo Dramaticus 