Thord Audsson was the youngest son of Aud, but was favored over his older brother Ulf. He grew up strong and independent. From a young age, he was talented with animals and particularly horses. When he was 18, he went to his mother Aud and told her "I think that I would like to marry Katla Herdis-daughter. I have seen her in Tjaraholt when I travelled through there, and everyone says that she is wise and strong-minded." Aud thought about this for a time, and replied "Katla is a fair woman, but she has two older sisters and she will get nothing from her uncle Ivar who is notoriously miserly. I believe I can find a better match for you, especially after you are in this summer's trading mission." Thord's heart was set, however, and he said "While you may find a better match, this is the match I desire."
Although he was presumptuous, Aud was soft-hearted to the boy and eventually granted his request. They were married as soon as Thord returned from the summer's voyage. Thord had only a small home to the south of Brygjafael, where he and Katla stayed with a small herd of sheep and two brace of horses. Katla was unpopular with the Brygjafael family but tolerated.
Seven years after their marriage, their prospects were beginning to look up. Their herds were doing very well. They had a five-year old daughter, Thorgerd, and an infant son Thorfinn. However, a jealous neighbor named Grim then charged Thord with witchcraft. His basis for the suit was that Thord's sheep grazed just next to his own sheep herds. While his herds had been ravaged by wolves, Thord's herds were untouched. He began a suit accusing Thord of using magic to send wolves to steal and kill his sheep. Thord claimed that he simply guarded his herds better. Without proof of witchcraft, the suit did not progress very far.
However, Grim collected a bunch of relatives to go teach Thord a lesson anyway. By luck, there were six of them who came on Thord by himself in the hills. He had his horse with him, but they had surrounded him and pinned him against a stream swelled with spring rains. They began to close on him when Thord spurred his mount and it leapt over the stream. The leap was so far that all of them agreed as witnesses that it could only have been through witchcraft.
On the strength of these witnesses, Grim again pressed his charges of witchcraft. Thord's family stood by him, but Katla's family was more cool. Eventually Vigfus the Proud was chosen as judge. The trial went on for a while, and eventually Thord was outlawed. His family then helped him collect what good he could travel with, and he set off to live with his family alone in the wilderness.