202 SEA BATTLES 



went home to Denmark with twenty-four ships. All who could 

 leave the remaining ships jumped on board Vagn's skeid, and 

 there they defended themselves very valiantly till it was dark ; 

 then the battle ended, and very many were still on their feet 

 in Vagn's skeid. Hakon jarl was overtaken by night and 

 could not make a search as to how many were alive or likely 

 to live in the ships, so he had a watch set during the night 

 that no man should escape from them, and they took all the 

 rigging down. Then Hakon rowed to the land, and pitched 

 tents ; they thought they had reason to boast of the victory. 

 Then they weighed the hailstones in order to prove the power 

 of Thorgerd and Irpa ; it was well proved, for it is told that 

 each hailstone weighed one eyrir, and they were weighed in 

 scales. Thereafter the wounds of the men were dressed, 

 and Hakon jarl and Gudbrand of Dalir watched during 

 the night" (Jomsvikinga Saga, c. 41-44). 



From the following account we see that these men of old 

 knew how to die, and how the spirit of chivalry seemed to 

 have departed, from the land, though Eirik, the son of Hakou, 

 at last stopped the bloodshed which had taken place. After 

 the defeat of the Jomsvikings by Hakon jarl, eighty of the 

 men who had not been captured landed on a skerry, and 

 suffered great privations from the cold. 



" Now it is to be told that Vagn and Bjorn the British talked 

 of what they should do ; Vagn said. ' There are two choices ; 

 to stay here in the ship till daybreak, and then be captured 

 and that is not pleasant, or go ashore, and do them what harm 

 we can, and then try to escape.' They all made up their 

 minds, took the mast and the sailyard, left the ship and floated 

 on them, eighty men together, in the dark. They wanted to 

 get on land, and came to a skerry, and thought they were 

 ashore. Many were very exhausted, and ten wounded men 

 died there in the night, and the other seventy lived though 

 many were much tired, and they could get no farther ; they 

 stayed there during the night. It is said that when Sigvaldi 

 had fled the shower ceased, and all lightning and thunder, and 

 the weather was cold and quiet during the night while Vagn 

 was on the skerry till it was daylight. 



"Shortly before day Hakon's men were dressing their 

 wounds, and had been at it the whole night, beginning as soon 

 as they landed, because so many were wounded. They had 

 almost finished it, when they heard the twang of a bowstring 

 in a ship, and an arrow flew from Biii's ship, and hit the side 



