Brewer's: Conan

The Thersites of “Fingal;” brave even to rashness.

Blow for blow
or claw for claw, as Conan said. Conan made a vow never to take a blow without returning it; when he descended into the infernal regions, the arch-fiend gave him a cuff, which Conan instantly returned, saying “Claw for claw.”

“ `Blow for blow,' as Conan said to the devil.” —Scott Waverley, chap. xxii.

Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894
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