spear that he called Vigr (the spear) and shot at him,
but missed. This was the song he made about it:--

(79)
"The youngster has pilfered my pin,
As I pledged the gay dame in the beaker;
And now must we brawl for a brooch
Like boys when they wrangle and tussle.
Right well have I shafted my spear,
Though I shot nothing more than the gravel:
But sure, if I missed at my man,
The moss has been prettily slaughtered!"

After this they went on their way to the land of Permia, and after that
they went home again to Norway.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX. How Cormac Saved Steingerd Once More From Pirates;
And How They Parted For Good And All.

Thorvald the Tinker fitted out his ship for a cruise to Denmark, and
Steingerd sailed with him. A little afterwards the brothers set out on
the same voyage, and late one evening they made the Brenneyjar.

There they saw Thorvald's ship riding, and found him aboard with part of
his crew; but they had been robbed of all their goods, and Steingerd
had been carried off by Vikings. Now the leader of those Vikings was
Thorstein, the son of that Asmund Ashenside, the old enemy of Ogmund,
the father of Cormac and Thorgils.

So Thorvald and Cormac met, and Cormac asked how came it that his voyage
had been so unlucky.

"Things have not turned out for the best, indeed," said he.

"What is the matter?" asked Cormac. "Is Steingerd missing?"

"She is gone," said Thorvald, "and all our goods."

"Why don't you go after her?" asked Cormac.

"We are not strong enough," said Thorvald.

"Do you mean to say you can't?" said Cormac.

"We have not the means to fight Thorstein," said Thorvald. "But if thou
hast, go in and fight for thy own hand."

"I will," said Cormac.

So at nightfall the brothers went in a boat and rowed to the Viking
fleet, and boarded Thorstein's ship. Steingerd was in the cabin on the
poop; she had been allotted to one of the Vikings; but most of the crew
were ashore round the cooking-fires. Cormac got the story out of the men
who were cooking, and they told all the brothers wanted to know. They
clambered on board by the ladder; Thorgils dragged the bridegroom out to
the gunwale, and Cormac cut him down then and there. Then he dived into
the sea with Steingerd and swam ashore; but when he was nearing the land
a swarm of eels twisted round his hands and feet, so that he was dragged
under. On which he made this song