me was Steinvor; she was Starkad's sister.

Egil's sons were tall and strifeful; they were most unfair men. They
were always on one side with Starkad's sons. Their sister was Gudruna
nightsun, and she was the best-bred of women.

Egil had taken into his house two Easterlings; the one's name was Thorir
and the other's Thorgrim. They were not long come out hither for the
first time, and were wealthy and beloved by their friends; they were
well skilled in arms, too, and dauntless in everything.

Starkad had a good horse of chesnut hue, and it was thought that no
horse was his match in fight. Once it happened that these brothers from
Sandgil were away under the Threecorner. They had much gossip about all
the householders in the Fleetlithe, and they fell at last to asking
whether there was any one that would fight a horse against them.

But there were some men there who spoke so as to flatter and honour
them, that not only was there no one who would dare do that, but that
there was no one that had such a horse.

Then Hildigunna answered, "I know that man who will dare to fight horses
with you".

"Name him," they say.

"Gunnar has a brown horse," she says, "and he will dare to fight his
horse against you, and against any one else."

"As for you women," they say, "you think no one can be Gunnar's match;
but though Geir the priest or Gizur the white have come off with shame
from before him, still it is not settled that we shall fare in the same
way."

"Ye will fare much worse," she says; and so there arose out of this the
greatest strife between them. Then Starkad said--

"My will is that ye try your hands on Gunnar last of all; for ye will
find it hard work to go against his good luck."

"Thou wilt give us leave, though, to offer him a horse-fight?"

"I will give you leave, if ye play him no trick."

They said they would be sure to do what their father said.

Now they rode to Lithend; Gunnar was at home, and went out, and Kolskegg
and Hjort went with him, and they gave them a hearty welcome, and asked
whither they meant to go?

"No farther than hither," they say. "We are told that thou hast a good
horse, and we wish to challenge thee to a horse-fight."

"Small stories can go about my horse," says Gunnar; "he is young and
untried in every way."

"But still thou wilt be good enough to have the fight, for Hildigunna
guessed that thou wouldst be easy in matching thy horse."

"How came ye to talk about that?"