At Geirmundstad (Geirmundarstaðir, private) on Skagafjord lived a married couple who did not get along. It was said that the woman was good to another man, and that this man did what he could to upset the relationship between her and her husband. To do this, the man conjured a devil that took on a dog’s form. The dog was turf brown, and the man sent it to Geirmundstad to be a marriage devil.
An old woman lived with the married couple at Geirmundstad. She saw that every time before the couple began to argue, a turf brown dog entered the bath hall, went through the room, put its muzzle on the bed between the man and woman and then began an unearthly howl.
Whenever the dog finished howling, it was a standing rule that the man and woman would begin to argue. The old woman spoke with the others in the household about the precursors of the conflict between the couple that she noticed, and they all agreed that she should tell the wife her view and see if she could bring peace between them, as they were generally loved by all of them.
The old woman, who was very spiritual, spoke one day with the wife. She said that it was unchristian for a man and woman to live in such conflict together. At first, the wife did not want to hear what she said. But the old woman said that she would certainly take the trouble to avoid anger with her husband if she knew where the anger came from.
The old woman then told the wife everything and implored her to begin giving in to her husband about everything and thereby stop satisfying the devil with their hateful arguing. The wife promised the old woman that she would do everything that was in her power.
It then happened that the couple’s relationship improved with every day because the woman gave in to her husband in everything so that finally, their lives together became loving. And the turf-brown dog was never seen again in the house.