y rode till they had a short
way to Tongue. Asgrim stood out of doors, and some men with him.
They see the band as soon as ever they could do so from the
house. Then Asgrim's men said, "There must be Thorgeir
Craggeir."

"Not he," said Asgrim. "I think so all the more because these
men fare with laughter and wantonness; but such kinsmen of Njal
as Thorgeir is would not smile before some vengeance is taken for
the burning, and I will make another guess, and maybe ye will
think that unlikely. My meaning is that it must be Flosi and the
burners with him, and they must mean to humble us with insults,
and we will now go indoors all of us."

Now they do so, and Asgrim made them sweep the house and put up
the hangings, and set the boards and put meat on them. He made
them place stools along each bench, all down the room.

Flosi rode into the "town," and bade men alight from their horses
and go in. They did so, and Flosi and his men went into the
hall. Asgrim sate on the cross-bench on the dais. Flosi looked
at the benches and saw that all was made ready that men needed to
have. Asgrim gave them no greeting, but said to Flosi, "The
boards are set, so that meat may be free to those that need it."

Flosi sat down to the board, and all his men; but they laid their
arms up against the wainscot. They sat on the stools who found
no room on the benches; but four men stood with weapons just
before where Flosi sat while they ate.

Asgrim kept his peace during the meat, but was as red to look on
as blood.

But when they were full, some women cleared away the boards,
while others brought in water to wash their hands. Flosi was in
no greater hurry than if he had been at home. There lay a
pole-axe in the corner of the dais. Asgrim caught it up with
both hands, and ran up to the rail at the edge of the dais, and
made a blow at Flosi's head. Glum Hilldir's son happened to see
what he was about to do, and sprang up at once, and got hold of
the axe above Asgrim's hands, and turned the edge at once on
Asgrim; for Glum was very strong. Then many more men ran up and
seized Asgrim, but Flosi said that no man was to do Asgrim any
harm, "For we put him to too hard a trial, and he only did what
he ought, and showed in that that he had a big heart."

Then Flosi said to Asgrim, "Here, now, we shall part safe and
sound, and meet at the Thing, and there begin our quarrel over
again."

"So it will be," says Asgrim; "and I would