diff --git a/Documentation/config.txt b/Documentation/config.txt
index 9aabef1..ab6ae3d 100644
--- a/Documentation/config.txt
+++ b/Documentation/config.txt
@@ -848,6 +848,10 @@
 	never show in columns
 `auto`;;
 	show in columns if the output is to the terminal
+`column`;;
+	fill columns before rows (default)
+`row`;;
+	fill rows before columns
 `plain`;;
 	show in one column
 --
diff --git a/column.c b/column.c
index 3349f58..05fa3e3 100644
--- a/column.c
+++ b/column.c
@@ -2,6 +2,59 @@
 #include "column.h"
 #include "string-list.h"
 #include "parse-options.h"
+#include "utf8.h"
+
+#define XY2LINEAR(d, x, y) (COL_LAYOUT((d)->colopts) == COL_COLUMN ? \
+			    (x) * (d)->rows + (y) : \
+			    (y) * (d)->cols + (x))
+
+struct column_data {
+	const struct string_list *list;
+	unsigned int colopts;
+	struct column_options opts;
+
+	int rows, cols;
+	int *len;		/* cell length */
+};
+
+/* return length of 's' in letters, ANSI escapes stripped */
+static int item_length(unsigned int colopts, const char *s)
+{
+	int len, i = 0;
+	struct strbuf str = STRBUF_INIT;
+
+	strbuf_addstr(&str, s);
+	while ((s = strstr(str.buf + i, "\033[")) != NULL) {
+		int len = strspn(s + 2, "0123456789;");
+		i = s - str.buf;
+		strbuf_remove(&str, i, len + 3); /* \033[<len><func char> */
+	}
+	len = utf8_strwidth(str.buf);
+	strbuf_release(&str);
+	return len;
+}
+
+/*
+ * Calculate cell width, rows and cols for a table of equal cells, given
+ * table width and how many spaces between cells.
+ */
+static void layout(struct column_data *data, int *width)
+{
+	int i;
+
+	*width = 0;
+	for (i = 0; i < data->list->nr; i++)
+		if (*width < data->len[i])
+			*width = data->len[i];
+
+	*width += data->opts.padding;
+
+	data->cols = (data->opts.width - strlen(data->opts.indent)) / *width;
+	if (data->cols == 0)
+		data->cols = 1;
+
+	data->rows = DIV_ROUND_UP(data->list->nr, data->cols);
+}
 
 /* Display without layout when not enabled */
 static void display_plain(const struct string_list *list,
@@ -13,6 +66,61 @@
 		printf("%s%s%s", indent, list->items[i].string, nl);
 }
 
+/* Print a cell to stdout with all necessary leading/traling space */
+static int display_cell(struct column_data *data, int initial_width,
+			const char *empty_cell, int x, int y)
+{
+	int i, len, newline;
+
+	i = XY2LINEAR(data, x, y);
+	if (i >= data->list->nr)
+		return -1;
+	len = data->len[i];
+	if (COL_LAYOUT(data->colopts) == COL_COLUMN)
+		newline = i + data->rows >= data->list->nr;
+	else
+		newline = x == data->cols - 1 || i == data->list->nr - 1;
+
+	printf("%s%s%s",
+	       x == 0 ? data->opts.indent : "",
+	       data->list->items[i].string,
+	       newline ? data->opts.nl : empty_cell + len);
+	return 0;
+}
+
+/* Display COL_COLUMN or COL_ROW */
+static void display_table(const struct string_list *list,
+			  unsigned int colopts,
+			  const struct column_options *opts)
+{
+	struct column_data data;
+	int x, y, i, initial_width;
+	char *empty_cell;
+
+	memset(&data, 0, sizeof(data));
+	data.list = list;
+	data.colopts = colopts;
+	data.opts = *opts;
+
+	data.len = xmalloc(sizeof(*data.len) * list->nr);
+	for (i = 0; i < list->nr; i++)
+		data.len[i] = item_length(colopts, list->items[i].string);
+
+	layout(&data, &initial_width);
+
+	empty_cell = xmalloc(initial_width + 1);
+	memset(empty_cell, ' ', initial_width);
+	empty_cell[initial_width] = '\0';
+	for (y = 0; y < data.rows; y++) {
+		for (x = 0; x < data.cols; x++)
+			if (display_cell(&data, initial_width, empty_cell, x, y))
+				break;
+	}
+
+	free(data.len);
+	free(empty_cell);
+}
+
 void print_columns(const struct string_list *list, unsigned int colopts,
 		   const struct column_options *opts)
 {
@@ -35,6 +143,10 @@
 	case COL_PLAIN:
 		display_plain(list, nopts.indent, nopts.nl);
 		break;
+	case COL_ROW:
+	case COL_COLUMN:
+		display_table(list, colopts, &nopts);
+		break;
 	default:
 		die("BUG: invalid layout mode %d", COL_LAYOUT(colopts));
 	}
@@ -69,6 +181,8 @@
 		{ "never",  COL_DISABLED, COL_ENABLE_MASK },
 		{ "auto",   COL_AUTO,     COL_ENABLE_MASK },
 		{ "plain",  COL_PLAIN,    COL_LAYOUT_MASK },
+		{ "column", COL_COLUMN,   COL_LAYOUT_MASK },
+		{ "row",    COL_ROW,      COL_LAYOUT_MASK },
 	};
 	int i;
 
diff --git a/column.h b/column.h
index b8719b3..ec7e1d2 100644
--- a/column.h
+++ b/column.h
@@ -10,6 +10,8 @@
 #define COL_AUTO          0x0020
 
 #define COL_LAYOUT(c) ((c) & COL_LAYOUT_MASK)
+#define COL_COLUMN             0   /* Fill columns before rows */
+#define COL_ROW                1   /* Fill rows before columns */
 #define COL_PLAIN             15   /* one column */
 
 #define explicitly_enable_column(c) \
diff --git a/t/t9002-column.sh b/t/t9002-column.sh
index a7f3cd9..ec288ae 100755
--- a/t/t9002-column.sh
+++ b/t/t9002-column.sh
@@ -42,4 +42,90 @@
 	test_cmp expected actual
 '
 
+test_expect_success '80 columns' '
+	cat >expected <<\EOF &&
+one    two    three  four   five   six    seven  eight  nine   ten    eleven
+EOF
+	COLUMNS=80 git column --mode=column <lista >actual &&
+	test_cmp expected actual
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'COLUMNS = 1' '
+	cat >expected <<\EOF &&
+one
+two
+three
+four
+five
+six
+seven
+eight
+nine
+ten
+eleven
+EOF
+	COLUMNS=1 git column --mode=column <lista >actual &&
+	test_cmp expected actual
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'width = 1' '
+	git column --mode=column --width=1 <lista >actual &&
+	test_cmp expected actual
+'
+
+COLUMNS=20
+export COLUMNS
+
+test_expect_success '20 columns' '
+	cat >expected <<\EOF &&
+one    seven
+two    eight
+three  nine
+four   ten
+five   eleven
+six
+EOF
+	git column --mode=column <lista >actual &&
+	test_cmp expected actual
+'
+
+test_expect_success '20 columns, padding 2' '
+	cat >expected <<\EOF &&
+one     seven
+two     eight
+three   nine
+four    ten
+five    eleven
+six
+EOF
+	git column --mode=column --padding 2 <lista >actual &&
+	test_cmp expected actual
+'
+
+test_expect_success '20 columns, indented' '
+	cat >expected <<\EOF &&
+  one    seven
+  two    eight
+  three  nine
+  four   ten
+  five   eleven
+  six
+EOF
+	git column --mode=column --indent="  " <lista >actual &&
+	test_cmp expected actual
+'
+
+test_expect_success '20 columns, row first' '
+	cat >expected <<\EOF &&
+one    two
+three  four
+five   six
+seven  eight
+nine   ten
+eleven
+EOF
+	git column --mode=row <lista >actual &&
+	test_cmp expected actual
+'
+
 test_done