ny a fray.

"Whether wilt thou have weapons to meet Whitting?" she asked. Cormac
said he would have an axe both great and keen.

Dalla said he should see Skeggi of Midfiord and ask for the loan of his
sword, Skofnung. So Cormac went to Reykir and told Skeggi how matters
stood, asking him to lend Skofnung. Skeggi said he had no mind to lend
it. Skofnung and Cormac, said he, would never agree: "It is cold and
slow, and thou art hot and hasty."

Cormac rode away and liked it ill. He came home to Mel and told
his mother that Skeggi would not lend the sword. Now Skeggi had the
oversight of Dalla's affairs, and they were great friends; so she said,
"He will lend the sword, though not all at once."

That was not what he wanted, answered Cormac,--"If he withhold it not
from thee, while he does withhold it from me." Upon which she answered
that he was a thwart lad.

A few days afterwards Dalla told him to go to Reykir. "He will lend thee
the sword now," said she. So he sought Skeggi and asked for Skofnung.

"Hard wilt thou find it to handle," said Skeggi. "There is a pouch to
it, and that thou shalt let be. Sun must not shine on the pommel of the
hilt. Thou shalt not wear it until fighting is forward, and when ye come
to the field, sit all alone and then draw it. Hold the edge toward thee,
and blow on it. Then will a little worm creep from under the hilt. Then
slope thou the sword over, and make it easy for that worm to creep back
beneath the hilt."

"Here's a tale of tricks, thou warlock!" cried Cormac

"Nevertheless," answered Skeggi, "it will stand thee in good stead to
know them."

So Cormac rode home and told his mother, saying that her will was of
great avail with Skeggi. He showed the sword, and tried to draw it, but
it would not leave the sheath.

"Thou are over wilful, my son," said she.

Then he set his feet against the hilts, and pulled until he tore the
pouch off, at which Skofnung creaked and groaned, but never came out of
the scabbard.

Well, the time wore on, and the day came. He rode away with fifteen men;
Bersi also rode to the holm with as many. Cormac came there first, and
told Thorgils that he would sit apart by himself. So he sat down and
ungirt the sword.

Now, he never heeded whether the sun shone upon the hilt, for he had
girt the sword on him outside his clothes. And when he tried to draw it
he could not, until he set his feet upon the hilts. Then the little worm
came, and was not rightl