at force, now, wilt thou add to ours?" he asks.

"Two long-ships, one with twenty, and the other with thirty seats for
rowers."

"Who shall man them?" asks Hallvard.

"I will man one of them with my own house-carles, and the freemen around
shall man the other. But still I have found out that strife has come
into the river, and I know not whether ye two will be able to get away;
for _they_ are in the river."

"Who?" says Hallvard.

"Brothers twain," says Oliver; "one's name is Vandil and the other's
Karli, sons of Sjolf the Old, east away out of Gothland."

Hallvard told Gunnar that Oliver had added some ships to theirs, and
Gunnar was glad at that. They busked them for their voyage thence, till
they were "all-boun". Then Gunnar and Hallvard went before Oliver, and
thanked him; he bade them fare warily for the sake of those brothers.

CHAPTER XXX.

GUNNAR GOES A-SEA-ROVING.

So Gunnar held on out of the river, and he and Kolskegg were both on
board one ship. But Hallvard was on board another. Now, they see the
ships before them, and then Gunnar spoke, and said--

"Let us be ready for anything if they turn towards us! but else let us
have nothing to do with them."

So they did that, and made all ready on board their ships. The others
patted their ships asunder, and made a fareway between the ships. Gunnar
fared straight on between the ships, but Vandil caught up a
grappling-iron, and cast it between their ships and Gunnar's ship, and
began at once to drag it towards him.

Oliver had given Gunnar a good sword; Gunnar now drew it, and had not
yet put on his helm. He leapt at once on the forecastle of Vandil's
ship, and gave one man his death-blow. Karli ran his ship alongside the
other side of Gunnar's ship, and hurled a spear athwart the deck, and
aimed at him about the waist. Gunnar sees this, and turned him about so
quickly, that no eye could follow him, and caught the spear with his
left hand, and hurled it back at Karli's ship, and that man got his
death who stood before it. Kolskegg snatched up a grapnel and casts it
at Karli's ship, and the fluke fell inside the hold, and went out
through one of the planks, and in rushed the coal-blue sea, and all the
men sprang on board other ships.

Now Gunnar leapt back to his own ship, and then Hallvard came up, and
now a great battle arose. They saw now that their leader was
unflinching, and every man did as well as he could. Sometimes Gunnar
smote with