Heimskringla
Page 28
Chapter 102. King Óláf Decides to Fight the Allied Fleet
When Sigvaldi and his flotilla rowed up to the island, Thorkel Dyrthil on the Crane, and the other skippers on the vessels following him, observed that the earl with his ships steered toward the island. Then they also lowered their sails and rowed in his wake and called out to him, asking why he did so. The earl said that he wanted to wait for King Óláf—“and it looks as if we may expect a fight here.” Then they let the ships drift until Thorkel Nefja came up with the Short Serpent together with the three ships following him, and they were given the same information. Then they lowered their sails, letting their ships drift, and waited for King Óláf. And when the king sailed up to the island, the entire enemy fleet rowed out into the sound in front of them. When King Óláf’s men saw that they begged the king to sail along and not engage such a huge host in battle.
The king answered aloud as he stood high upon the raised stern deck, “Lower the sail! Let not my men think of fleeing. I have never fled in battle. May God dispose of my life, but I shall never flee.” They did as the king commanded. As says Hallfröth:1
(156.)
173. Tell I will the warrior’s
words which at the sword-thing,
fearless, spoke the spear-shafts-
speeder to his liege men:
Bade the enemies’-awer not
ever think of flight—his
dauntless words no doubt will
dure forever—in battle.
Chapter 103. King Óláf and His Forecastlemen Have Words
King Óláf had the trumpets blown for all his ships to gather. The king’s ship was in the middle of the battle array, with the Short Serpent on one side, and the Crane on the other. And when they began to lash the ships together stem to stem and stern to stern, they did so also with the Long Serpent and the Short Serpent. But when the king saw that, he called out aloud and ordered the big ship to be placed farther forward and not let it be the hind-most of all ships of the fleet. Then replied Ûlf the Red, “If the Serpent is to be placed forward by as much as it is longer than other ships, then those in the forecastle will have to bear the brunt of the fight.”
The king said, “I was not aware that I had a forecastleman who was both red and afraid.”1
Úlf said, “Just don’t you defend the raised afterdeck more with your back2 than I shall the forecastle.” The king had a bow in his hands and laid an arrow on the bowstring, aiming at Úlf.
Úlf said, “Shoot the other way, sir king, where there is more need. Whatever I do, I do for you.”
Chapter 104. King Óláf Scans His Opponents
King Óláf stood on the poop of the Serpent, high above the others. He had a gilt shield and helmet, and was thus easily distinguishable from others. He wore a short red kirtle over his coat of mail. And when King Óláf saw that the [enemy] forces gathered together and the standards were raised for the chieftains, he asked, “Who is the leader of the fleet facing us?” He was told that it was King Svein Forkbeard with his Danish force. The king replied, “We have no fear of those cravens. There is no courage in the Danes. But who is the chieftain whose standards I see there on the right of them?” He was told it was King Óláf with his Swedish army. King Óláf said, “Better it would be for the Swedes to stay at home and lap their sacrificial bowls1 than attack the Serpent and encounter our weapons. But whose are those large ships that lie on the larboard side of the Danes?”
“There,” they said, “is Earl Eirík Hákonarson.”
Then King Óláf replied, “Very likely he considers he has a bone to pick with us, and we may expect a smart fight with that force: they are Norwegians like us.”
Chapter 105. The Battle Begins
Now the kings rowed to the attack. King Svein laid his ship against the Long Serpent, but King Óláf of Sweden from the outside pushed his prows against the outmost ship of King Óláf Tryggvason from the sea side while Earl Eirík did so on the opposite side. Then began a hard battle. Earl Sigvaldi moved his ships to and fro and did not participate in the battle. As says Skúli Thorsteinsson1—he was in Earl Eirík’s force at that time:
(157.)
174. When young, the Frisians’ foe2 I
followed, and eke Sigvaldi—
fame I gathered—but gray have
grown since—where sang arrows,
the time by Svolth Sound we
swords did redden, and in
din-of-darts3 we met our
doughty foe there head-on.
And still further, Hallfröth has this to say about these events:
(158.)
175. There, I think, for sure the
thane, for fray ever-ready,
much did miss the help of
men from Trondheim4 in battle.
Alone the fearless folk-king
fought the valiant rulers—
deathless are such doughty
deeds—and the earl as third foe.
Chapter 106. King Óláf Defeats the Danes and the Swedes
This was the bitterest and most murderous battle. The men stationed in the forecastle of the Long Serpent, the Short Serpent, and the Crane hurled anchors and grappling hooks onto the ship of King Svein, and they were able to attack them from above. They cleared of their crews all the ships they could hold onto, but King Svein and the men who managed to escape fled onto other ships and thereupon retired out of range of arrow shots; and this force behaved just as King Óláf Tryggvason had predicted.
In their place Óláf, the king of the Swedes, now moved to the attack, and no sooner did they come near the large ships [of King Óláf Tryggvason] than they fared like the others, losing many men and some ships, and so retired from the fight.
Now Earl Eirík brought his ship Barthi alongside the outermost ship of King Óláf, cleared it of its crew, and straightway cut the hawsers connecting it with the other ships, then attacked the ship next to it, and fought till that was cleared too. Then the men of the smaller ships took to seek refuge on the large ships. But the earl cut the hawsers of each ship as soon as it was cleared of its crew. And now the Danes and the Swedes approached within shooting distance from all sides around King Óláf’s ships. But Earl Eirík steadily moved alongside and fought at close quarters; and as men fell on his ships, others, Danes and Swedes, stepped in their places. As says Halldór (the Unchristened):
(159.)
176. Raged bitter brands a long time—
broken was the peace then—
whined the hurtling javelins’
hail—round the Serpent.
Forward followed him1 in
fray slaughterous, say they,
south of the sea by Svolth Isle,
Swedish men and Danish.
Then there was most furious fighting and great carnage; and in the end all ships of King Óláf’s were cleared of men, excepting the Long Serpent. On it had taken refuge all of his men who were still able to fight. Then Earl Eirík laid his ship Barthi alongside the Serpent, and there was hand to hand fighting. As says Halldór:
(160.)
177. Yester-year at Svolth, as
ye have heard, pressed sorely—
smote keen wands-of-wounds there—
was the king’s Long Serpent,
broadside when his Barthi,
boarded high, Earl Eirík—
loot won that lord in battle—
laid ’gainst Fáfnir’s2 bulwarks.
Chapter 107. The Men on the Long Serpent Offer a Sharp Defence
Earl Eirík stood in the compartment in front of the raised stern-deck where men had formed a shield-castle. The battle raged with blows of swords and axes and with thrusts of spears, and everything was hurled that could be called a weapon. Some shot with bows, others hurled javelins. There was such a shower of weapons directed against the Serpent that the men could hardly protect themselves with their shields, since javelins and spears flew so thick; because battleships attacked the Serpent on all sides. King Óláf�
�s men fought so furiously that they jumped on the railings in order to reach and kill their foes with swordblows; but many [of these] did not approach the Serpent so closely as to engage in close combat. But most of Óláf’s men leapt overboard, acting as though they were fighting on level ground, and sank with their arms. As says Hallfröth:
(161.)
178. Sank down from the Serpent,
sorely wounded in spear-fight,
many, nor sharp shots could
shun in storm-of-arrows.
Ne’er, though steer it a stalwart,
stout-souled king hereafter,
where’er it haply sail, will
have such crew the Serpent.
Chapter 108. Of Einar Thambarskelfir
Einar Thambarskelfir was on the Serpent in the compartment forward of the stern. He shot with bow and arrow. He was the best shot anywhere. He shot at Earl Eirík, and the arrow hit the top piece of the rudder above the earl’s head and sank in all the way up to the socket. The earl looked at it and asked if they knew who was the archer; but straightway there came another arrow, and so near to the earl that it passed between his side and his arm and went into the head-board behind him so that the point came out on the other side of it. Then the earl said to the man some call Finn—some say he was Finnish—he was a great archer, “Shoot that big man in the forward compartment!” He shot, and the arrow struck the bow of Einar in the middle, at the moment when Einar drew his bow for the third time, and the bow burst in two.
Then said King Óláf, “What cracked there with such a loud report?”
Einar answered, “Norway out of your hands, sir king.”
“Hardly so great a break,” said the king. “Take my bow and shoot with it”—and he flung his bow over to him.
Einar took the bow and at once drew the head of the arrow behind it and said, “Too soft, too soft is the king’s bow,” and threw the bow behind him, took up his shield, and fought with his sword.
“Too soft, too soft is the king’s bow.”
Chapter 109. King Óláf Tryggvason Is Wounded
King Óláf Tryggvason stood on the raised afterdeck of the Serpent during the day, and most often shot with his bow, but sometimes he hurled javelins, generally two at a time. He looked forward on his ship and saw his men wield their swords and hew again and again, but noticed that their swords did no execution, and he called out aloud, “Why do you wield your swords in such slack fashion, because I see they don’t cut?”
A man made answer, “Our swords are dull and much dented.” Then the king went down into the forward compartment and undid the high-seat box. From it he took many sharp swords and handed them to his men. But when he reached down with his right arm, it was seen that blood ran down out of the sleeve of his coat of mail. No one knows where he was wounded.
Chapter 110. The Last Defence on the Long Serpent
The strongest defence on the Serpent, and the most deadly, was made by the men in the forward compartment and those in the forecastle. There were both the pick of the men and the highest gunwales. Now when the crew amidships had fallen and only few men were still standing by the mast, Earl Eirík attempted to board the Serpent, and managed to get up on it with fourteen others. Then Hyrning, King Óláf’s brother-in-law, with a company of men, fell upon him, and there ensued the most furious fight, with the result that the earl had to fall back and get down into his ship Barthi; and of the men who had followed him, some fell and some were wounded. Of this Thórth Kolbeinsson makes mention:
Eirík’s men board the Long Serpent.
(162.)
179. Helmeted host’s shields were
wholly with blood covered—
…………………
…………………1
Fame got him in fiercest
fray, with blue sword slaughterous,
Hyrning: as the heavens
high will it last forever.
Then there was another terrific fight, and many of the Serpent’s crew were cut down. And as the ranks of the defenders on the Serpent grew thin, Earl Eirík again tried to board the Serpent. And again the resistance was fierce. When the men in the forecastle of the Serpent saw [Earl Eirík’s attack] they came aft and turned against him, giving him a stiff reception. However, since so many of the Serpent’s crew had fallen that there were gaps between the defenders along the gunwales, the earl’s men began to climb aboard in many places. But all those still able to stand up on the Serpent retreated aft to where the king was. Then, as says Halldór the Unchristened, Earl Eirík urged on his men:
(163.)
180. Urged the gladsome earl his
iron-hearted troops—while
all of Óláf’s men ran
aftmost—to the onset,
round when his rudder-horses2
ringed—waxed then the din of
battle about the gold-ring-
breaker3—the Long Serpent.
Chapter 111. King Óláf Tryggvason Leaps Overboard
Kolbjorn the Marshal went up on the raised afterdeck to join the king. Their garments and arms were much alike. Kolbjorn also was an unusually tall and handsome man. A fierce battle was still raging in the forward compartment. And because so great a host of the earl’s men had come aboard the Serpent—as many as there was room for—and because his ships surrounded the Serpent on all sides and there was but a small band of defenders against so many, even though they were both strong and brave, most were cut down in a short while. But both King Óláf himself and Kolbjorn leapt overboard, each on his side.
The earl’s men had surrounded the Serpent with small skiffs and killed those who leapt overboard; and when the king himself had leapt into the sea they wanted to take him prisoner and bring him to the earl. But King Óláf held his shield over his head when he plunged into the sea, whereas 1000 Kolbjorn the Marshal held his beneath himself to protect himself against the spears hurled from the vessels below them; and so he fell into the sea with the shield under him, so that he did not sink as quickly, and he was captured and hauled up into a skiff, and they believed he was the king. He was brought before the earl, and when the earl saw that it was Kolbjorn and not King Óláf he was given quarter. At that moment all those of King Óláf’s men who were still alive leapt overboard from the Serpent; and Hallfröth relates that Thorkel Nefja, the brother of the king, was the last of them all to leap overboard:
(164.)
181. Reft of men, the ruler—
raged the storm-of-arrows—
saw the Serpents twain, the
swift Crane eke, float crewless,
ere that Thorkel, eager
aye for war, unfallen,
dauntless foiled his foes and
fled his ship by swimming.
Chapter 112. Rumors of King Óláf’s Survival
As was set down before, Earl Sigvaldi had joined King Óláf in Wendland [before sailing]. He had ten ships beside the one on which were the men of Princess Ástríth, his wife. Now when King Óláf had leapt overboard, the whole army [of his enemies] shouted “victory”; whereupon the earl [Sigvaldi] and his men lowered their oars and rowed to join the battle. Of this Halldór the Unchristened makes mention:
(165.)
182. Wide-spread, Wendish ships to
weapon-thing then hurried—
grimly, Garms-of-shields1 there
gaped, thin-mouthed ’gainst warriors.
Din was on deep sea-ways.
Dun eagles slit corpses.
Fiercely fought the war-lord.
Fled the host of enemies.
But the Wendish ship on which were Ástríth’s men rowed away and back to Wendland; and it was soon said by many that King Óláf probably had cast off his mail-coat under water and dived out of sight of the warships, and then swum to the Wendish ship, and that Ástríth’s men had brought him to land. And there are many [other] stories told later by some men about King Óláf’s adventures. But Hallfröth has this to say:
(166.)
laud I should in poem—
him who fed the hungry
hawks—whether dead or living,
seeing that men for sooth do
say both of our chieftain:
hearsay has it he’s wounded.
Hard to know what the truth is.
But howsoever that be, King Óláf Tryggvason never thereafter returned to his kingdom in Norway. Yet Hallfróth has this to say:
(167.)
184. A worthy warrior told me
(one who fought with Óláf)
that the liege of landsmen
lived still, the son of Tryggvi.
Out of storm-of-steel, they
state, had come King Óláf.
Wide of the mark I ween them:
worse than that by far is’t.
And also this:
(168.)
185. Hardly could have happened,
when that Eirík fought him
on the Serpent—Óthin’s
ale I have drunk2—fiercely,
that the belovèd, lavish
lord—unlikely seems it—
scatheless could have ’scaped such
skirmish nor met his death there.
(169.)
186. Still some stalwart men have
steadfastly told me, how that,
weapon-wounded, scaped the
warlord out of battle.
The truth is told now, how—no
trust I put in empty
rumors—the ruler died in
ruthless struggle in Southland.
Chapter 113. The Earls Eirík and Svein Are Given the Rule of Norway