Ref the Sly escapes

Ref en route. watercolour19 January 2022

His vengeance sure to prove less than popular, Reff (an unlikely hero whose name means “Fox”) fills a ship with "farmers' sons" and steers for Greenland.

A desperate flight, the first of many for Reff

His uncle, Gest, takes the long view. On their parting he says to Ref:

"If it turns out you are not destined to come back to Iceland,

I wish that you'd have a story written  about your journey,

because it will seem noteworthy to some people 

since I think you are the second wise man to appear in our family.

And surely you are destined for great achievements." *

---

*"The Saga of Ref the Sly [Króka-Refs saga]" (ca. 1350-1400 C. E., depicting ca. 950-1050), translated by George Clark. In The Sagas of the Icelanders (Penguin, 1997), 605; 595-625.

Thanks to Lisa Bailey for the nudge towards Ref.