They did not fall on them till they were armed.

Thorgeir Craggeir runs thither where Thorkel Sigfus’ son stood, and just then a man ran behind his back, but before he could do Thorgeir any hurt, Thorgeir lifted the axe, “the ogress of war,” with both hands, and dashed the hammer of the axe with a back-blow into the head of him that stood behind him, so that his skull was shattered to small bits.

“Slain is this one,” said Thorgeir; and down the man fell at once, and was dead.

But when he dashed the axe forward, he smote Thorkel on the shoulder, and hewed it off, arm and all.

Against Kari came Mord Sigfus’ son, and Sigmund Sigfus’ son, and Lambi Sigurd’s son; the last ran behind Kari’s back, and thrust at him with a spear; Kari caught sight of him, and leapt up as the blow fell, and stretched his legs far apart, and so the blow spent itself on the ground, but Kari jumped down on the spear-shaft, and snapped it in sunder.  He had a spear in one hand, and a sword in the other, but no shield.  He thrust with the right hand at Sigmund Sigfus’ son, and smote him on his breast, and the spear came out between his shoulders, and down he fell and was dead at once.  With his left hand he made a cut at Mord, and smote him on the hip, and cut it asunder, and his backbone too; he fell flat on his lace, and was dead at once.

After that he turned sharp round on his heel like a whipping-top, and made at Lambi Sigurd’s son, but he took the only way to save himself, and that was by running away as hard as he could.

Now Thorgeir turns against Leidolf the strong, and each hewed at the other at the same moment, and Leidolf’s blow was so great that it shore off that part of the shield on which it fell.

Thorgeir had hewn with “the ogress of war,” holding it with both hands, and the lower horn fell on the shield and clove it in twain, but the upper caught the collar bone and cut it in two, and tore on down into the breast and trunk.  Kari came up just then, and cut off Leidolf’s leg at mid-thigh, and then Leidolf fell and died at once.

Kettle of the Mark said—­“We will now run for our horses, for we cannot hold our own here, for the overbearing strength of these men”.

Then they ran for their horses, and leapt on their backs; and Thorgeir said—­

“Wilt thou that we chase them? if so, we shall yet slay some of them.”

“He rides last,” says Kari, “whom I would not wish to slay, and that is Kettle of the Mark, for we have two sisters to wife; and besides, he has behaved best of all of them as yet in our quarrels.”

Then they got on their horses, and rode till they came home to Holt.  Then Thorgeir made his brothers fare away east to Skoga, for they had another farm there, and because Thorgeir would not that his brothers should be called truce-breakers.

Then Thorgeir kept many men there about him, so that there were never fewer than thirty fighting men there.