and some snow had fallen, but very little. He saw three men
riding from the South across the Hitara, and the light shone from their
apparel and from their enamelled shields. It occurred to Grettir who
it might be, and he thought he would relieve them of some of their
accoutrements. He was very curious to meet a man who went about so
ostentatiously. So he took his weapons and hurried down the hillside.
Gisli when he heard the clattering of the stones said: "A man, rather
tall, is coming down the hill and wants to meet us. Let us act boldly
and we shall have good sport." His men said that this fellow had great
confidence in himself to run into their hands; but that he who asked
should have. Then they got off their horses. Grettir came up to them and
laid hold of a bag of clothes which Gisli had behind him on his saddle,
saying:

"I must have this; I often stoop to little things."

Gisli said: "You shall not; do not you know with whom you have to do?"

Grettir said: "No; that is not so clear to me. Nor do I make much
difference between one man and another since I claim so little."

"May be it seems little to you," said Gisli; "but I would sooner part
with thirty hundred ells of wadmal. It seems that extortion is your way.
Go for him, boys! Let us see what he can do."

They obeyed. Grettir fell back a little and reached a stone which is
still standing by the side of the way and is called Grettishaf, where
he stood at bay. Gisli urged on his men, and Grettir saw that he was not
quite so valiant as he pretended to be, for he kept well behind them.
Grettir got tired of being hemmed in, so he made a lunge with his sword
and killed one of Gisli's men, sprang from his stone and assailed them
so vigorously that Gisli fell back all along the foot of the hill. Then
his other man was killed.

Grettir said: "One would scarcely see that you have achieved much in the
world abroad, and you have shamefully forsaken your comrades."

Gisli answered: "The fire is hottest to him who is in it; it is ill
dealing with men from Hel."

They had exchanged few more blows when Gisli threw away his arms and
bolted right away along the foot of the mountain. Grettir gave him time
to throw away whatever he liked, and at every opportunity he threw off
something more of his clothes. Grettir never followed him so closely
that there was not some distance between them. He ran right away
from the mountains, across Kaldardal, round Aslaug's Cliff, above