The sun was sinking lower and lower to the sea; light clouds were
gathering in the western sky. But there would yet be three hours of
daylight, and Earl Erik deemed that this would be ample time in which
to win the Long Serpent. His own decks were thickly strewn with dead;
his men were weary and athirst, and he saw need for a respite from
fighting, if only for a very brief while. Also he saw on coming nearer
to King Olaf's ship that it would be no easy matter to win on board of
her; for the Iron Ram was but a third of her length, and her highest
bulwarks reached only to a level with the oar holes in the Serpent's
wales.
Erik blew his horns for a short truce. His ships were drawn off, and
for a time the battle ceased. In this interval the combatants on both
sides rested themselves and took food and drink. King Olaf had his
decks cleared of the dead, sent the wounded below into the shelter of
the holds, and arrayed his men anew. He was himself unwounded still,
but his silken tunic was tattered, so that the links of his coat of
mail showed through. His helmet was battered by the many spears and
swords that had struck upon it, and his shield bristled with broken
arrows.
When he had freshened himself and got together a new supply of arrows
and spears, he mounted to the poop deck, and there, standing in the
sunlight, looked around the bay. The water was strewn with wreckage, an
arrow floated on every wave. Small boats had been put out to pick up
the men who had fallen, or been thrust overboard from the ships. All
was silent now, save for the suppressed cries of the wounded and the
hoarse voices of the chiefs who were giving rapid orders to their men
for the renewal of the fight.
Earl Erik's ships, among which there were also some of the Swedes and
Danes, stood off from the Serpent at a distance of an easy arrow's
flight. They surrounded the Serpent like a pack of eager wolves held at
bay; and the most eager of all men there present was Earl Erik.
When he had prepared his men he said to a chief who stood near
him--Thorkel the High, it was, brother of Earl Sigvaldi:
"Many fierce battles have I fought; but never before have I found men
equally brave and so skilled in warfare as the men fighting for King
Olaf today; nor have I ever seen a ship so hard to win as the Long
Serpent. Now, as you are one of the wisest of men, Thorkel, give me the
best advice you know as to how that great ship may be won."
"I cannot give you sure advice," Thorkel answered: "but I can say what
seems to me the best; and I would say that you would do well, when we
presently come alongside, to take heavy timbers or such like weighty
things, and let them fall across the gunwale of the Serpent, so that
the ship will lean over. You will then find it easier to board her, for
she will be brought down by the weight to a level with our own
bulwarks."
"The advice is good," said Erik, "and I will follow it."
As he spoke, there came the loud blast of King Olaf's war horns,
calling to his foes to come on.
The Iron Ram, and other ships, to the number of fifteen, then closed in
about the Serpent, and, as they advanced, the archers on their decks
opened battle by shooting their arrows high in air, so that they fell
into the midst of Olaf's men in an unremitting shower. Olaf's warriors,
one and all, raised their shields above their heads and held them there
while the rain of shafts pattered upon them with a loud drumming noise
that could be heard far across the bay. Many of the men were killed and
many more wounded by this terrible hail, and when at length the
shooting ceased, every shield was found to be closely bristled with
arrows.
Earl Erik bore down upon the Serpent with the Iron Ram, whose heavy
stem struck her amidships with tremendous force, so that the men on her
decks were thrown off their feet. The good ship creaked in all her
beams, but no great damage was done. Erik shipped his oars and drew his
vessel close alongside, and at once his men began to heave great planks
and logs of wood over the Serpent's gunwale. In this work they were
speedily stopped, for Olaf's spearmen and archers on the deck of the
foreroom assailed them with their weapons in such wise that they dared
not continue. Not to be outdone, Erik had all his long oars brought on
deck, and with these he made a bridge from the top of his foreroom
across to the Serpent's gunwale. In this work he lost many of his men,
who were shot down by Einar Eindridson and others of the king's best
marksmen. But a gangway was made, nevertheless, and the chief
difficulty was surmounted.
Not yet did Earl Erik attempt to board King Olaf's dragon. He sent many
of his best men on board, armed with axe and sword. Most of them
crossed the gangway to certain death; but many of the king's men also
fell, both from wounds and from sheer exhaustion. It was amidships that
the toughest fighting went on, and it was here that the larger number
of the defenders met their death. But at the foreroom and the stem of
the Serpent the fray was also of the fiercest. Company after company of
the vikings clambered on board, for so fully were the king's men
occupied in guarding their own lives that they could give little heed
to their foes, who seemed to come from every point, not only from the
Iron Ram, but also from other ships that were now drawn close in
against the Serpent's hull. For every viking or Dane or Swede who fell,
there were ten ready to take his place. The clang of weapons was now at
its highest. Spears and arrows flew in the midst, not aimed at random,
but each at its own particular mark, and each carrying death on its
keen point.
King Olaf, surrounded by a burg of shields, flung his spears and shot
his arrows with untiring vigour; but often he paused to watch how the
battle fared or to give some new order to his men. He saw that his stem
defenders were quickly becoming fewer and fewer, and that those who yet
remained wielded their weapons with slow and heavy strokes. In a
momentary lull of the conflict he left his own post and went forward.
"Why do you raise your weapons so slowly?" he cried. "I see they do not
bite!"
Bersi the Strong replied: "Our swords are both dull and broken, lord."
The king then went into the foreroom, unlocked the high seat chest and
took therefrom many bright and sharp swords which he carried out in his
arms and put down among his men. As he bent over the weapons and picked
out a very fine one to give to Bersi the Strong, Kolbiorn saw that
blood flowed out of the sleeve of his coat of mail. Others saw the
blood; but no one knew where the king was wounded. Then Olaf strode
back to the lypting deck and once more surveyed the battle from on
high. He saw that his stem defenders, to whom he had served new
weapons, had now become so furious that they leapt upon the gunwales in
order to reach their foes with their swords and kill them. But many of
Earl Erik's ships did not lie so close to the Serpent as to afford any
hand to hand fighting. The vikings were still cautious of Olaf's
champions. Still, many of the king's men thought of nothing but going
constantly forward, and in their eagerness and daring they seemed to
forget that they were not on dry land. They went straight overboard,
and several sank down with their weapons between the ships. Olaf was
very angry at their want of care, for he now deemed every man of more
value than ten had been at the beginning of the battle. Nevertheless,
it was easy to see that the greater loss was on the side of Earl Erik.
Olaf's archers and spearmen dealt such destruction that the victory for
Norway seemed to become more possible with every moment.
Now Earl Erik had found very soon that his gangway of oars was by no
means satisfactory, because while his men were crossing they became so
fully exposed to King Olaf's marksmen that of every three who started
only one succeeded in gaining a foothold on the Serpent's deck. Many
hundreds of men--vikings, Swedes, and Danes--lost their lives on this
bridge. So when Erik saw that King Olaf was gaining the upper hand of
him he got his berserks to take down the oars and to fling them over
the Serpent's nearer gunwale, together with all logs of wood, spars,
ballast stones, and other weighty things that could be found. And as
the weight increased so did the Serpent lean over, until at last her
bulwarks were almost on a level with those of the Iron Ram.
While the vikings were at this work a constant rain of arrows and
javelins was showered upon them by King Olaf himself and his marksmen
on the poop, and as Erik saw his best men falling he half repented
having taken them from the fight. But when the great obstacle that had
baffled him so long was overcome, he rallied his vikings, and placing
himself at their head, led them on board the Serpent. And now ensued
one of the sharpest combats that had been seen that day.
Olaf's voice sounded loud above the tumult, calling to his chiefs in
the bow to leave their station and resist the boarders in the waist.
Wolf the Red, Ogmund Sandy, and Thrand Squinteye had already fallen,
and Ketil the Tall and Vikar of Tiundaland had been sent below
seriously wounded. But there still remained Kolbiorn Stallare,
Thorstein Oxfoot, Bersi the Strong, and Thorfinn the Dashing; and these
champions gathered a score of men about them, and hastening aft to the
midships deck, turned against Earl Erik and made a very hard resistance.
Bersi the Strong encountered the earl hand to hand, their swords
clashed, a few blows were exchanged and dexterously guarded; then Bersi
fell. Thorfinn the Dashing took his place, and while the earl and he
were fighting their hardest, Thorstein Oxfoot and Kolbiorn engaged with
four of the earl's vikings. Kolbiorn felled two of them and turned to a
third. Then Thorstein Oxfoot's sword was struck from his hand.
Thorstein doubled his fist and struck his opponent on the cheek. The
viking stumbled, and Thorstein snatched up the half of a broken oar and
wielding it above his head rushed among the vikings, belabouring them
right and left. When King Olaf saw this he called aloud to Thorstein in
a loud voice of command:
"Take your weapons, man, and defend yourself with them fairly. Weapons,
and not fists or timber, are meant for men to fight with in battle!"
Thorstein then recovered his sword and fought valiantly.
There was still a most fierce fight going on between the earl's men and
Olaf's champions. Kolbiorn vanquished the third viking he had engaged
with, while Earl Erik was pressed back and back by Thorfinn the
Dashing. Then Thorfinn caught sight of King Olaf, and at a sign from
the king he lowered his blade and drew back a pace. Before Earl Erik
could understand, a javelin whizzed past his left ear and buried its
point in the bulwark behind him. He turned to see who had flung the
javelin and saw King Olaf standing by the poop rail poising a second
spear. The king flung his weapon, taking good aim; but this spear
missed its mark as the first had done. King Olaf bit his lip in
vexation, but as the earl turned quickly to beat a retreat on board the
Ram, Olaf flung a third javelin after him. It struck the crest of
Erik's helmet, but did no harm.
"Never before did I thus miss a man!" cried the king as he watched his
enemy's retreat. "Great is Earl Erik's luck today. It must be God's
will that he now shall rule in Norway; and that is not strange, for I
see that he has changed the stem dweller on the Iron Ram. I said today
that he would not gain victory over us if he had the image of Thor in
his stem."
Now young Einar Eindridson had by this time taken up his position in
front of the poop deck, where he found he could command a better sweep
of the Iron Ram's deck, and so pick off Earl Erik's champions. Einar
saw the vexation in King Olaf's face, and when he got a good chance he
levelled his aim against Earl Erik. He drew his bow. The arrow flew
from the string and went straight to its mark. But in the same instant
the earl suddenly moved round his head, so that the arrow, meant for
his bared temple, only grazed his ear.
"Shoot me that tall, beardless youth!" cried the earl, pointing at
Einar. "Full fifty of our best men has he slain with his arrows this
day!"
Finn Eyvindson, to whom Erik spoke, aimed an arrow at Einar just as the
lad was bending his bow for a second shot at the earl. The arrow hit
Einar's famous bow in the middle and broke it with a loud snap.
"What was it that broke?" asked King Olaf.
Einar answered sadly as he dropped the pieces of his bow:
"Norway from thy hands, my king!"
"So great was not the breach, I hope," King Olaf said. "Take my bow and
shoot with it instead."
Einar seized the king's bow and straightway drew it right over the
arrowhead, bending it almost double.
"Too weak, too weak is the king's bow," said he, casting it aside.
Then, for the first time that day, he took his shield and sword and
rushed into the fray. No man in all King Olaf's host had slain more men
in that battle than Einar with his arrows; and now the lad made himself
no less distinguished with his sword.
Earl Erik presently saw that the sun was sinking nearer and nearer to
the line of the sea. The number of his men had become woefully small,
and yet, as he believed, Olaf Triggvison was still unwounded,
undaunted, and as full of confident hope as he had ever shown himself
to be. So the earl decided to make one more effort after the victory
and to risk his all in a final hand to hand encounter with the King of
the Norsemen. Gathering all his available men together he prepared to
make a rush upon the Long Serpent's deck.
King Olaf, seeing the earl's design, called his men aft, and ranged
them in a compact body in front of the poop deck, ready to meet their
foes.
At the same time Kolbiorn Stallare went up to Olaf's side, and the two,
so much alike in size and dress, stood shoulder to shoulder, with their
shields before them and their swords in their hands. A row of shield
bearers stood in front of them. Then, with wild yells, the vikings, led
by Earl Erik, rushed upon the mid deck.
As it had been throughout the whole day's battle, so was it now. King
Olaf's men were greatly outnumbered; it was a conflict of skill and
endurance against overwhelming odds. This final contest, while it
lasted, was fierce and terrible. In a short time, however, many of King
Olaf's champions fell. Brave and strong though they were, they could
not withstand the furious onslaught of the ambitious and valiant Earl
Erik. For a moment Olaf Triggvison was tempted to rush down and join
the poor remnant of his men. He pressed forward to the stairs; but
Kolbiorn Stallare drew him back.
"Wait, lord!" he cried; and then he whispered in Olaf's ear, and they
both strode slowly aft to the rail. Here King Olaf turned and spoke to
one of the shield bearers.
"How many of our men now remain?" he asked.
The man counted.
"Twelve are still left," he answered.
In a little while the king repeated his question.
"There are now but six," was the answer.
And then there came the sound of hurried feet upon the stairs, and
Einar Eindridson rushed upon the upper deck, followed by three of his
shipmates, and pursued by Earl Erik and a great crowd of clamouring
vikings.
"Death to King Olaf!" cried the earl, in a voice which, in the silence
that suddenly fell upon the ships, could be heard far across the bay.
In that moment King Olaf and Kolbiorn leapt upon the rail, paused there
amid the red light of the setting sun, and then, raising their shields
above their heads, threw themselves over into the sea.
A cry that was half a groan escaped Earl Erik's lips. Flinging his
sword aside, he went to the rail where King Olaf had stood. He looked
down into the sea. Shadows were creeping over it. For a moment he saw
the two swimmers. So much alike were they, each with his flowing gold
hair, his crested helm, and his tattered red silk tunic, that it was
impossible to tell which was the king. Presently one disappeared. The
other was assailed by arrows and spears, but instantly he turned over
and held his shield above him.
"It is the king! It is Olaf the King!" was the cry and boats were put
out to rescue him. But Einar Eindridson kept his eyes upon the waves
until at last, in the midst of a bright beam of sunlight far away he
saw the shield of King Olaf appear, with its glistening image of the
holy cross. And when the word went round that the rescued man was
Kolbiorn Stallare and not the king, the lad pointed outward upon the
sea and all looked in amaze upon the shining crucifix as it rose and
fell with the motion of the waves.
The tale is told that the king, as he swam beneath the cover of his
shield, stripped off his armour and, making his way to the land, went
away on a pilgrimage to Rome. But the young grew old, and the world
went on, and never again did King Olaf the Glorious come back to his
realm in Norway.