Skipreikinn
Late one summer in the Westfjords, a massive ship appeared off the coast, its sails behaving in a strange, unnatural manner. The locals soon realized to their horror that it was a pirate vessel. Panic gripped the nearest farm, and the terrified inhabitants frantically began planning their escape.
However, an elderly man living on the farm intervened. He told them that an old piece of driftwood like himself had little left to lose, so he would stay outside and keep watch to "welcome" these unwanted guests. He commanded everyone else to go indoors, get into bed, and stay there, warning that anyone who dared to set foot outside would be risking their very life. Knowing the old man possessed a deep mastery of the ancient arts, the people obeyed without question.
As dusk settled, a terrifying, unnatural gale slammed into the coast. The wind howled with such unimaginable fury that every timber in the farmhouse groaned, and the terrified inhabitants felt as though the entire world was tearing itself apart.
When morning finally broke, the furious storm had vanished, leaving behind a violently churning, muddy-brown sea. Emerging cautiously from the house, the locals found the old man dead near the high-tide mark. He had evidently climbed atop a wooden fish-drying shed to weave his weather spells, but the sheer force of the storm he had summoned had blown him off the structure, battering him to death.
His sacrifice, however, had saved them all. Out in the water, the terrifying pirate ship had been completely obliterated, smashed into splinters by the waves, and its entire crew had perished. For a long time afterward, the people of the Westfjords prospered from the valuable wreckage that washed up on their shores.
Original text
(Eptir handriti sèra Skúla Gíslasonar á Stóranúpi.)
Einu sinni sást skip frá landi á Vestfjörðum; var það harla stórt, og hagaði seglum undarlega. Komust menn að raun um, að þetta var ræníngjaskip; varð fólk á næsta bæ hrætt mjög, og ráðgjörði að flýja. Gamall maður var þar á bænum, og sagði hann, að gömlum fauskinum væri ekki vant, hann skyldi vera úti og vaka, til að taka við gestum, en alt fólk annað fara inn og hátta, en líf þess lægi við, sem út kæmi. Fólkið gegndi þessu, því það vissi, að karl var fjölkunnugur, enda var komið kvöld og farið að skyggja; þetta var að áliðnu sumri. Þegar er fólkið var háttað, skall á ofsa-veður, svo það brakaði í hverju trè, og var eins og alt ætlaði ofan að gánga. Um morguninn valt sjórinn kolmórauður, en ofveðrinu var lètt af. Þegar að var hugað, sást, að karl mundi hafa sezt upp á hjall, er var skamt frá flæðarmáli; hafði hann fokið ofan af honum, og lamizt til bana, en skipið hafði molazt í spón og allir skipverjar farizt; en Vestfirðíngar bjuggu leingi að rekanum.
