"Go and do your best," said the king. "Balin has done me a great despite, and richly deserves punishment."
Thereupon the knight of Ireland armed and rode at all speed after Balin, whom he quickly overtook on a mountain side. He called to him in loud tones,—
"Stop, sir knight. You shall halt whether you will or not, and the shield you bear shall prove but light defence to you, for I am come to punish you for your crime."
Hearing this outcry, Balin turned fiercely, and demanded,—
"What do you wish, sir knight? Are you here to joust with me?"
"It is for that I have followed you," said the Irish knight.
"It might have been better for you to stay at home," answered Balin. "Many a knight who thinks to chastise his enemy finds ill fortune to fall upon himself. From what court have you been sent?"
"From the court of King Arthur, to revenge the insult you put upon him in murdering his guest before his face."
"Then must I fight with you," said Balin. "Yet I warn you your quarrel is a weak one. The lady that is dead richly deserved her fate, or I should have been as loath as any knight living to kill a woman."
"Make ready," said Lanceor. "Fight we must, and one of us shall remain dead upon this field. Our combat is to the utterance."