When King Olaf and King Onund heard that King Canute was come from the
West, and also that he had a vast force, they sailed east to Scania, and
allowed themselves to ravage and burn in the districts there, and then
proceeded eastward along the land to the frontier of Sweden. As soon as
the country people heard that King Canute was come from the West, no one
thought of going into the service of the two kings.
Now the kings sailed eastward along the coast, and brought up in a river
called Helga, and remained there some time. When they heard that King
Canute was coming eastward with his forces against them, they held a
council; and the result was, that King Olaf with his people went up
the country to the forest, and to the lake out of which the river Helga
flows. There at the riverhead they made a dam of timber and turf, and
dammed in the lake. They also dug a deep ditch, through which they led
several waters, so that the lake waxed very high. In the river-bed they
laid large logs of timber. They were many days about this work, and King
Olaf had the management of this piece of artifice; but King Onund
had only to command the fleet and army. When King Canute heard of the
proceedings of the two kings, and of the damage they had done to his
dominions, he sailed right against them to where they lay in Helga
river. He had a War-force which was one half greater than that of both
the kings together. Sigvat speaks of these things:--
"The king, who shields
His Jutland fields
From scaith or harm
By foeman's arm,
Will not allow
Wild plundering now:
'The greatest he,
On land or sea.'"