1 98 Norway and the Norwegians 



had spoken thus for a short time, they saw four ships 

 coming sailing along, of which one had a large dragon 

 head richly gilt. Then King Svend stood up, and said : 

 ' That ship shall carry me this evening high, for I shall 

 steer it.' 



The Danish fleet then, we may suppose, put at once 

 to sea, in time to cut off Olaf from a large portion of 

 his fleet ; though precisely how this manoeuvre was 

 effected is not very clear to us. For while one account 

 represents Sigvald as piloting the fleet through the 

 Sound, another account implies that his vessels came 

 between Olaf and the vanguard of his fleet. Even now 

 the Norse king might have escaped by holding on his 

 course ; and when it appeared how large a fleet was 

 sailing out to intercept him, some of his men urged 

 Olaf to do this. But the king cried out from the 

 quarter-deck : ' Strike the sails ; never shall men of 

 mine think of flight. I never fled from a battle. Let 

 God dispose of my life, but flight I will never take.' In 

 truth, he could only have saved himself by sacrificing 

 his rear-guard. 



When a fleet got ready for fight, it was usual to 

 fasten the vessels together by chains, in order that they 

 might be kept in line. Enough space must, of course, 

 have been left between the vessels for the use of the 

 oars. 



King Olaf ordered the war-horns to sound for all his 

 ships to close up to each other. The king's ship lay in 

 the middle of the line, and on one side lay the LittU 

 Serpent, and on the other the Crane ; and as they made 

 fast the stems together, tlie Long Serpent and the Short 

 Serpent were fastened together at their stems. But when 



