und behind
them he lined with archers.

At last the gates fell, and with an exulting shout the Danes poured in.
As they did so the archers on the mound loosed their arrows, and the
head of the Danish column melted like snow before the blast of a
furnace. Still they poured in and flung themselves upon the spearmen,
but they strove in vain to pierce the hedge of steel. Desperately they
threw themselves upon the pike-heads and died there bravely, but they
were powerless to break a passage.

The archers on the mound still shot fast among them, while those on the
wall, turning round, smote them in the back, where, unprotected by
their shields, they offered a sure and fatal mark. Soon the narrow
semicircle inside the gate became heaped high with dead, impeding the
efforts of those still pressing in. Several of the bravest of the
Danish leaders had fallen. The crowd in the fosse, unaware of the
obstacle which prevented the advance of the head of the column and
harassed by the missiles from above, grew impatient, and after half an
hour of desperate efforts, and having lost upwards of three hundred of
his best men, the Danish king, furious with rage and disappointment,
called off his men.

On the other three sides the attack equally failed. The Danes suffered
heavily while climbing the steep side of the inner mound. They brought
with them faggots, which they cast down at the foot of the wall, but
this was built so near the edge of the slope that they were unable to
pile sufficient faggots to give them the height required for a
successful assault upon it. Many climbed up on their comrades'
shoulders, and so tried to scale the wall, but they were thrust down by
the Saxon spears as they raised themselves to its level, and in no
place succeeded in gaining a footing. Over two hundred fell in the
three minor attacks.

There were great rejoicings among the Saxons, on whose side but
twenty-three had been killed. A solemn mass was held, at which all save
a few look-outs on the walls attended, and thanks returned to God for
the repulse of the pagans; then the garrison full of confidence awaited
the next attack of the enemy.

Stones were piled up in the gateway to prevent any sudden surprise
being effected there. The Danes in their retreat had carried off their
dead, and the next morning the Saxons saw that they were busy with the
ceremonies of their burial. At some little distance from their camp the
dead were placed in a sitting p