lew
him. That same onset was meant for Thorvald, but he hid himself in the
shadow and skulked, until men came between then and parted them. Said
Cormac:--

(64)
"There, hide in the house like a coward,
And hope not hereafter to scare me
With the scorn of thy brethren the Skidings,--
I'll set them a weft for their weaving!
I'll rhyme on the swaggering rascals
Till rocks go afloat on the water;
And lucky for you if ye loosen
The line of your fate that I ravel!"

This went all over the country-side and the feud grew fiercer between
them. The brothers Thorvald and Thorvard used big words, and Cormac was
wroth when he heard them.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE. How Thorvard Would Not Fight, But Tried To Get The
Law Of Cormac.

After this Thorvard sent word from Fliot that he was fain to fight
Cormac, and he fixed time and place, saying that he would now take
revenge for that song of shame and all other slights.

To this Cormac agreed; and when the day came he went to the spot that
was named, but Thorvard was not there, nor any of his men. Cormac met a
woman from the farm hard by, who greeted him, and they asked each other
for news.

"What is your errand?" said she; "and why are you waiting here?"

Then he answered with this song:--

(65)
"Too slow for the struggle I find him,
That spender of fire from the ocean,
Who flung me a challenge to fight him
From Fleet in the land of the North.
That half-witted hero should get him
A heart made of clay for his carcase,
Though the mate of the may with the necklace
Is more of a fool than his fere!"

"Now," said Cormac, "I bid Thorvard anew to the holmgang, if he can
be called in his right mind. Let him be every man's nithing if he come
not!" and then he made this song:--

(66)
"The nithing shall silence me never,
Though now for their shame they attack me,
But the wit of the Skald is my weapon,
And the wine of the gods will uphold me.
And this they shall feel in its fulness;
Here my fame has its birth and beginning;
And the stout spears of battle shall see it,
If I 'scape from their hands with my life."

Then the brothers set on foot a law-suit against him for libel. Cormac's
kinsmen backed him up to answer it, and he would let no terms be made,
saying that they deserved the shame put upon th