The saga begins with a story about the parents of the main characters. Thorstein, son of Egil and grandson of Scallagrim, lived in the Settlement. He was an intelligent and worthy man; everyone loved him. Once, he sheltered a Norwegian. He was very interested in dreams. Thorstein dreamed that a beautiful swan sits on the roof of his house, to which two eagles flew in - one from the mountains, and the other from the south. The eagles began to fight among themselves and fell dead, and then a falcon flying from the west led away a saddened swan. The Norwegian interpreted the dream as follows: the pregnant wife of Thorstein Yofried will give birth to a girl of extraordinary beauty, and two noble people devote to her from the sides where the eagles came from: both will love her very much and will fight each other to death, and then a third person will embrace her, and she will marry him. Thorstein was upset by this prediction and, leaving for the ting, ordered his wife to leave the boy and throw the girl away. Yofrid gave birth to a very beautiful girl and told the shepherd to take her to Thorgerd, daughter of Aigil. When Thorstein returned, Yofrid said the girl was thrown away, as he had ordered. Six years passed, and Thorstein went to visit Olav Pavlin, his son-in-law. Sister Torgerd showed Helga to him, apologizing for the deception. The girl was beautiful, Torstein liked her, and he took her with him. Helga Beauty grew up with her mother and father, and everyone loved her dearly.
Illugi the Black lived on the White River in Krutoyar. He was the second most famous on the Gorodischesky Fjord after Torstein, son of Egil. The Illugi had many children, but the saga only speaks of two - Hermund and Gunnlaug. They say about Gunnlaug that he matured early, was tall, strong and handsome. He loved to write stinging poems, and for this he was nicknamed the Serpentine Language. Hermund was loved more than Gunnlaug. At the age of twelve, Gunnlaug quarreled with his father, and Thorstein invited him to live in the Settlement. Gunnlaug studied law under Torstein and earned universal respect. She and Helga were very attached to each other. Helga was so beautiful that, according to knowledgeable people, there were no women more beautiful in Iceland than her. Gunnlaug once asked Torstein to show how they are getting engaged to a girl, and performed a ceremony with Helga, but Torstein warned that this would be for the sake of sight only.
A man named Enund lived on Mossy Mountain. He had three sons, and all of them showed great hope, but Hrafn stood out among them especially — he was a tall, strong, handsome young man who knew how to compose good verses. Enund had many relatives, and they were the most respected people in the south.
For six years, Gunnlaug Snake Language lived alternately in the Settlement near Torstein, then at home in Krutoyar. He was already eighteen years old, and with his father they now got along well. Gunnlaug asked Illuga to let him go on a trip, and he bought him a half-ship. While the ship was equipped, Gunnlaug visited the Settlement and spent a lot of time with Helga. When he began to get married, Thorstein replied that he had to either go overseas or get married - Helge is not a couple who does not know what he wants. But Illugi didn’t refuse Black to Thorstein and promised that Helga would wait for Gunnlaug for three years, and if he didn’t return on time, Thorstein would give it for another.
Gunnlaug went to Norway, but he had to leave there because he angered Jarl Eirik with his arrogance. He sailed to England and composed a song of praise for King Adalrad - for this king gave him a purple cloak on a fur with gold trim. Then he killed the famous Viking in a duel: this feat brought him great fame in England and beyond. The king from Dublin Sigtrugg gave him for a song of praise with an expensive cloak and a gold wrist weighing one mark. Jarl Sigurd ruled then in Gautland. Once the Gauts argued with the Norwegians, whose jarl is better. Gunnlaug, chosen by the arbitrator, said visu, in which he praised both Jarl Sigurd and Jarl Eirik. The Norwegians were very pleased, and the yard Eirik, learning about this, forgot about his resentment. In Sweden, Gunnlaug met with Hrafn, the son of Enund, and made friends with him. But at the feast at the king Olav Gunnlaug wanted to be the first to say the song of praise. Hrafn called it pompous and harsh, like Gunnlaug himself. Gunnlaug called Hrafn’s song beautiful and worthless, like Hrafn himself. Before leaving for Iceland, Hrafn said that his former friendship was over and that someday he would also disgrace Gunnlaug. He replied that he was not afraid of threats.
Hrafn spent the whole winter with his father, and in the summer he went to Helga. Thorstein refused him, citing a promise made to Gunnlaug. The following summer, the noble relatives of Hrafn began to woo Helga very persistently, saying that the term of three years had already passed. Then Thorstein went to Illugi the Black. He said that he did not know exactly the intentions of his son Gunnlaug. It was decided that a wedding would take place in the Settlement at the beginning of winter if Gunnlaug did not return and did not demand to fulfill the promise. Helga was very unhappy with all this agreement.
Gunnlaug from Sweden went to England, and the king Adalrad received him very well. The Danes then threatened war, so the king did not want to let go of his guard. Half a month before the start of winter, Gunnlaug landed in Lava Bay, and here Tord, the son of a bond from the plain, called him to fist fight. Gunnlaug won, but dislocated his leg - and arrived in Krutoyar that very Saturday, when they sat at the Settlement at the wedding feast. People say that the bride was very sad. When Helga found out that Gunnlaug was back, she became cold with her husband. At the end of winter, they met with Gunnlaug during the holiday, and the skald gave her a cloak received from King Adalrad. In the summer, everyone went to the ting: there Gunnlaug challenged Hrafn to a duel, but when Hrafn broke his sword, relatives came between them. The next day, a law was passed that all fights in Iceland are now prohibited.
Hrafn arrived in Krutoyar and invited Gunnlaug to end the match in Norway. He told the relatives that he had no joy from Helga and that one of them should die at the hands of the other. When Jarl Eirik forbade them to fight in his state, they met in a place called Lebanon. Gunnlaug killed the moons of Hrafn, and Hrafn killed the moons of Gunnlaug. Then they began to fight two: Gunnlaug chopped off Hrafna’s leg, and he asked for a drink. Gunnlaug brought water in a helmet, and Hrafn inflicted a dishonest blow on his head, because he did not want to give up Helga Beauty. Gunnlaug killed Hrafn and three days later he himself died from a wound. At that time, Illugi Black had a dream, as if the bloodied Gunnlaug had come to him and told the visu about his death. And Enund in a dream appeared Hrafn.
In the summer, at an alting, Illugi demanded a virus from Enund for the fact that Hrafn had meanly done with Gunnlaug. Enund said he wouldn’t pay, but he wouldn’t require a vira for Hrafn either. Then Illugi killed two of his relatives, and Hermund, who lost his peace after the death of his brother, pierced with a spear one of his nephews. Nobody demanded a vira for the murder, and this ended the feud between Illuga the Black and Enund from the Mossy Mountain.
Thorstein, son of Egil, after a while passed off his daughter Helga as a worthy and wealthy man named Torkel. But she was not well disposed towards him, because she could not forget Gunnlaug. The greatest joy for her was to spread out and to look at the cloak presented to him for a long time. Once a serious illness came to Torkel’s house, and Helga fell ill too. She ordered the Gunnlaug cloak to be brought and looked at him intently, and then leaned into her husband's arms and died. Everyone was very sorry for her death.
