The king stood on the gangways of the Long Serpent, and shot the greater
part of the day; sometimes with the bow, sometimes with the spear,
and always throwing two spears at once. He looked down over the ship's
sides, and saw that his men struck briskly with their swords, and yet
wounded but seldom. Then he called aloud, "Why do ye strike so gently
that ye seldom cut?" One among the people answered, "The swords are
blunt and full of notches." Then the king went down into the forehold,
opened the chest under the throne, and took out many sharp swords, which
he handed to his men; but as he stretched down his right hand with them,
some observed that blood was running down under his steel glove, but no
one knew where he was wounded.