222 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. [XII. 



Ulf said, " Shoot another way, King, where it is more 

 needful, — my work is thy gain." 



Then the King asks, " Who is the chief of the force right 

 opposite to us ? " He is answered, " Svend of Denmark, 

 with his army." 



Olaf replies, " We are not afraid of these soft Danes ! 

 Who are the troops on the right ? " 



They answer, " Olaf of Sweden, and his forces." 



" Better it were," replies the King, " for these Swedes to 

 be sitting at home, killing their sacrifices, than venturing 

 under the weapons of the ' Long Serpent? But who owns 

 the large ships on the larboard side of the Danes ? " 



"That is Jarl Eric, son of Hacon," say they. 



The King says, " He has reason for meeting us; we may 

 expect hard blows from these men ; they are Norsemen like 

 ourselves." 



The fierce conflict raged for many hours. It went hard 

 with the " soft Danes," and idolatrous Swedes, as Olaf had 

 foreseen : after a short struggle they turn and fly. But Jarl 

 Eric in his large ship the " Iron Beard" is more than a 

 match for Olafs lighter vessels. One by one their decks 

 are deluged with blood, their brave defenders swept into the 

 sea ; one by one they are cut adrift and sent loose with the 

 tide. And now at last the " Iron Beard" lies side by side, 

 with the " Long Serpent" and it is indeed "hot work" both 

 on forecastle and quarter-deck. 



" Einar Tambarskelvar, one of the sharpest of bowmen, 

 stood by the mast, and shot with his bow." His arrow hits 

 the tiller-end, just over the Earl's head, and buries itself up 

 to the shaft in the wood. " Who shot that bolt ? " says the 

 Jarl. Another flies between his hand and side, and enters 

 the stuffing of the chief's stool. Then said the Jarl to a 

 man named Fin, " Shoot that tall archer by the mast ! " Fin 

 shoots; the arrow hits the middle of Einar's bow as he is in 

 the act of drawing it, and the bow is split in two. 



" What is that," cried King Olaf, " that broke with such a 

 noise ? " 



