Therewith came those of Coldback in four boats, and Thorgrim laid claim to the whale and forbade the men of Wick to shear, allot, or carry off aught thereof:  Flosi bade him show if Eric had given Onund Treefoot the drift in clear terms, or else he said he should defend himself with arms.  Thorgrim thought he and his too few, and would not risk an onset; but therewithal came a boat rowing up the firth, and the rowers therein pulled smartly.  Soon they came up, and there was Swan, from Knoll in Biornfirth, and his house-carles; and straightway, when he came, he bade Thorgrim not to let himself be robbed; and great friends they had been heretofore, and now Swan offered his aid.  The brothers said they would take it, and therewith set on fiercely; Thorgeir Bottleback first mounted the whale against Flosi’s house-carles; there the aforenamed Thorfin was cutting the whale, he was in front nigh the head, and stood in a foot-hold he had cut for himself; then Thorgeir said, “Herewith I bring thee back thy axe,” and smote him on the neck, and struck off his head.

Flosi was up on the foreshore when he saw that, and he egged on his men to meet them hardily; now they fought long together, but those of Coldback had the best of it:  few men there had weapons except the axes wherewith they were cutting up the whale, and some choppers.  So the men of Wick gave back to the foreshores; the Eastmen had weapons, and many a wound they gave; Stein, the captain, smote a foot off Ivar Kolbeinson, but Leif, Ivar’s brother, beat to death a fellow of Stein’s with a whale-rib; blows were dealt there with whatever could be caught at, and men fell on either side.  But now came up Olaf and his men from Drangar in many boats, and gave help to Flosi, and then those of Coldback were borne back overpowered; but they had loaded their boats already, and Swan bade get aboard and thitherward they gave back, and the men of Wick came on after them; and when Swan was come down to the sea, he smote at Stein, the sea-captain, and gave him a great wound, and then leapt aboard his boat; Thorgrim wounded Flosi with a great wound and therewith got away; Olaf cut at Ufeigh Grettir, and wounded him to death; but Thorgeir caught Ufeigh up and leapt aboard with him.  Now those of Coldback row east by the firths, and thus they parted; and this was sung of their meeting—­

  At Rib-skerries, I hear folk tell,
  A hard and dreadful fray befell,
  For men unarmed upon that day
  With strips of whale-fat made good play. 
  Fierce steel-gods these in turn did meet
  With blubber-slices nowise sweet;
  Certes a wretched thing it is
  To tell of squabbles such as this.