"I am but a boy," answered Rolf, "yet men call me Cragsman."
"Now I am well shamed," cried Grettir, "that a boy hath so outwitted me! And this I believe, that thou mightest have slain me; for a good archer I found thee yesterday. Still more will I say, that yesterday I had near suffered a hurt at thy hands, so that I was considering whether to retreat before thee, or to take my shield, and neither have I yet done before a single archer. Now let me ask thee, why didst thou stop shooting then; and why didst thou not slay me here as I lay?"
"Because," answered Rolf, "thou, or no man in Iceland, canst give me the help I need."
"Come down," said Grettir, "and we will eat together."
So they breakfasted together, of dried meat and the milk of the ewe. "How was thy sleep there on the crag?" asked Grettir.
"No worse," answered Rolf, "than thine here on the ledge. Why didst thou sleep so ill?"
Then Grettir answered soberly: "One of my few good deeds is so repaid that I see shapes in the dark, and my sleep is broken. For I slew Glam the ghost who wasted Thorhallstead, but ere I cut off his head he laid on me that spell. So I am a fearsome man in the dark, though in the day no man may daunt me. But what can I do for thee?"
"Let me see," answered Rolf, "if with the bow thou canst shoot farther than I."
"Thou art a vain lad," said Grettir, somewhat displeased. "For that alone earnest thou hither?"
"Be not wroth," begged Rolf, "for I have the best of reasons." And he told the story of his father's death and of the need for a good archer. Grettir smiled.