he came near to the man in the boat he poised his spear and shook it
and cried out: "Man, art thou friend or foe?"

Said the man: "Thou art a fair young man: but there is grief in thy
voice along with wrath. Cast not till thou hast heard me, and mayst
deem whether I may do aught to heal thy grief."

"What mayst thou do?" said Hallblithe; "art thou not a robber of the
sea, a harrier of the folks that dwell in peace?"

The man laughed: "Yea," said he, "my craft is thieving and carrying
off the daughters of folk, so that we may have a ransom for them.
Wilt thou come over the waters with me?"

Hallblithe said wrathfully:

"Nay, rather, come thou ashore here! Thou seemest a big man, and
belike shall be good of thine hands. Come and fight with me; and
then he of us who is vanquished, if he be unslain, shall serve the
other for a year, and then shalt thou do my business in the
ransoming."

The man in the boat laughed again, and that so scornfully that he
angered Hallblithe beyond measure: then he arose in the boat and
stood on his feet swaying from side to side as he laughed. He was
passing big, long-armed and big-headed, and long hair came from under
his helm like the tail of a red horse; his eyes were grey and
gleaming, and his mouth wide.

In a while he stayed his laughter and said: "O Warrior of the Raven,