There was a chief in Iceland named Asbjorn Gunnbjarnarson; his wife was Thorgerd, a fine and accomplished woman. They had a daughter, Thorny, whom Thorgerd gave in marriage to Skidi without Asbjorn’s consent.
“Some years after Asbjorn rode to the Thing and said to Thorgerd: ‘Now I ride to the Thing as I am wont, and I know that thou art far gone with a child; now whatever it is, boy or girl, it shall not be raised, but exposed.’ She said he should not do that, so wise and powerful a man as he was; ‘for it would be an unheard-of wickedness even if a poor man did it, but especially as you do not lack goods.’ Asbjorn replied: ‘I thought when thou gavest our daughter Thorny to Skidi, the eastman, without my knowing it, that I should not raise more children for thee to give away against my will, but if thou dost not do as I tell thee, thou wilt feel it, as will all who break my orders, or do not do what I want.’ He rode to the Thing. A little after Thorgerd gave birth to a boy; it was large, fat, and very fine; all who saw it, both men and women, praised it. Though Thorgerd thought the child was fine and loved it much, nevertheless she wanted it to be exposed, for she knew the temper of her husband, Asbjorn, that he must have his will. Then she got men to expose the child, and prepare him, as was the custom. They took it out of the house, laid it down between two stones, and put a large slab over it; they left a piece of pork in the child’s mouth, and went away. Gest, a bondi, heard the child crying, and took it home to his wife; she was the foster-mother of Thorgerd, and recognised the boy. They agreed to raise the child as their own” (Finnbogi Rammi’s Saga).
Among the chief reasons which led to the exposure of a child were deformity, and discord between man and wife; dissatisfaction of the wife’s father with the union of which the child was the fruit; persuasion of the wife if her husband got a child by a concubine; superstitions as to evil omens at the time of birth, which were thought to indicate coming misfortunes caused by the child; and, finally, the utter inability of the parents to raise the child on account of their poverty.
“Every child which is born into this world shall be raised, baptized, and carried to the church, except that only which is born so deformed that the mother cannot give strength to it, whose heels are in the place of the toes, whose chin is between his shoulders, the neck on his breast, with the calves on his legs turning forward, his eyes on the back of his head, and seal’s fins or a dog’s head. It shall be carried to a beach and buried where neither men nor cattle go; that is the beach of the evil one. Next is the child which is born with a skin-bag on its face; it can be seen by every one that it cannot get its food, though it might grow up; it shall be taken and carried to the church, be prime-signed, laid at the church door; the nearest kinsman shall watch it till breath is out of it; it shall be buried in the churchyard, and its soul shall be prayed for as well as is possible”[[70]] (Earlier Frostathing’s Law, i. 1).
“Signý bore a girl, both large and handsome; her brother Torfi would not let it be water-sprinkled until he knew how it would go with her life. She died, and he became so angry[[71]] that he wanted to have the child exposed. He asked his foster-father Sigurd to take the child and go with it to the Reykjardals river and there drown it. Sigurd said this was very wicked, but could not refuse; so he took the child, and went with it. It seemed to him so handsome that he had not the heart to throw it into the river; he turned up to Signýjarstadir, and laid the child down at the yard gate, thinking it likely that it would soon be found. Grim bondi Signýjarson was standing outside at the house gable, and saw this. He went and took it up and brought it in, and gave out that his wife Helga was sick and had borne a child.... Torfi became angry at this; he took the girl, but did not dare to kill her, for it was called murder to kill children after they were water-sprinkled” (Hord’s Saga, c. 8).
“Thorstein (son of Egil Skallagrimsson) one summer prepared to go to the Thing, and said to his wife Jófrid: ‘Thou art with child; if it is a girl thou shalt have it exposed, but raise it if it is a boy.’ It was the custom, while the country was all over heathen, for those who had little property to have their children exposed, although it was always considered very wicked. And when Thorstein had said this, Jófrid answered: ‘This is unworthy of a man like thee, and thou who art so rich, oughtest not to do this.’ Thorstein added: ‘Thou knowest well my temper, and that it will not be well with thee if my order is not obeyed.’ Then he rode to the Thing, and Jófrid gave birth to a girl which was exceedingly handsome. The women wanted to take it, but she said they needed not, and called her shepherd Thorvard, and said: ‘Take my horse and lay a saddle on it, and bring this child to Thorgerd, daughter of Egil (Skallagrimsson) in Hjardarholt, and ask her to raise it secretly so that Thorstein may not know it; I look on this child with such eyes of love that I have not the heart to expose it. Here are three marks of silver as reward; Thorgerd will send thee abroad.’ Thorvard did as she said. He rode to Hjardarholt with the child and handed it to Thorgerd; she had it raised with her tenant at Leysingjastadir in Hvammsfjord.... When Thorstein came home from the Thing Jófrid told him that the child had been exposed as he had ordered, but her shepherd had run away and stolen her horse. Thorstein said this was good, and got another shepherd. For six winters this was not discovered. A few years after, when Thorstein was on a visit to his brother-in-law, Thorgerd told him that the beautiful girl before him was his own daughter, and how she had come thither. Thorstein said: ‘I cannot blame you for this; most things that are fated take place, and you have remedied my foolishness. I like this girl so much that it seems to me great luck to have so fair a child; but what is her name?’ ‘Helga she is called,’ answered Thorgerd. ‘Helga the fair,’ added Thorstein. ‘Now thou shalt make her ready to go home with me’” (Gunnlaug Ormstunga, c. 3).
No violent hand was ever laid upon children that were to be exposed. Only one case is mentioned of a child which was to be thrown into the water. One custom was to put the child in a covered grave; but the most common was to leave the death or life of the child to fate, by exposing it in an out-of-the-way place; for instance, between heaped-up stones, or in a hollow under the root of a tree, but making it tolerably secure against wild animals. Sometimes nourishment, mostly pork to suck, was given, in order to prolong its life, in case any one might possibly find it and take pity on it.
“Thórkatla, Asgrim’s wife, bore a boy, and he ordered it to be exposed. The thrall who was to dig the grave whetted a hoe, and laid the boy on the floor. Then they heard the boy sing—
Let me get to my mother,
It is cold for me on the floor,