s father and other kinsmen of
his.

Now before Gunnlaug went upon the holm he sang,--

"Out to isle ofeel-field
Dight am I to hie me:
Give, O God, thy singer
With glaive to end the striving.
Here shall I the head cleave
Of Helga's love's devourer,
At last my bright sword bringeth
Sundering of head and body."

Then Raven answered and sang,--

"Thou, singer, knowest not surely
Which of us twain shall gain it;
With edge for leg-swathe eager,
Here are the wound-scythes bare now.
In whatso-wise we wound us,
The tidings from the Thing here,
And fame of thanes' fair doings,
The fair young maid shall hear it."

Hermund held shield for his brother, Gunnlaug; but Sverting,
Hafr-Biorn's son, was Raven's shield-bearer. Whoso should be wounded was
to ransom himself from the holm with three marks of silver.

Now, Raven's part it was to deal the first blow, as he was the
challenged man. He hewed at the upper part of Gunnlaug's shield, and the
sword brake asunder just beneath the hilt, with so great might he smote;
but the point of the sword flew up from the shield and struck Gunnlaug's
cheek, whereby he got just grazed; with that their fathers ran in
between them, and many other men.

"Now," said Gunnlaug, "I call Raven overcome, as he is weaponless."

"But I say that thou art vanquished, since thou art wounded," said
Raven.

Now, Gunnlaug was nigh mad, and very wrathful, and said it was not tried
out yet.

Illugi, his father, said they should try no more for that time.

Gunnlaug said, "Beyond all things I desire that I might in such wise
meet Raven again, that thou, father, wert not anigh to part us."

And thereat they parted for that time, and all men went back to their
booths.

But on the second day after this it was made law in the law-court that,
henceforth, all holmgangs should be forbidden; and this was done by the
counsel of all the wisest men that were at the Thing; and there, indeed,
were all the men of most counsel in all the land. And this was the last
holmgang fought in Iceland, this, wherein Gunnlaug and Raven fought.

But this Thing was the third most thronged Thing that has been held
in Iceland; the first was after Njal's burning, the second after the
Heath-slaughters.

Now, one morning, as the brothers Hermund and Gunnlaug went to Axe-w