, and behind them my English
spearmen. That place they liked not at first, till the king told
them carefully what he would have them do at the first charge of
horsemen for which he looked, for now it was plain that many of the
Danes were mounted.

Olaf and I stood between his men and mine, leaving our horses in
the cover, for a viking leader will ever fight on foot. Rani was on
the right wing, and Biorn the marshal on the left; and Ottar the
scald bore Olaf's banner beside the king. There were six of the
best warriors of the crew before Olaf as his shield wall, and six
of the best English warriors had been named by Prat to act in the
same way for me. Olaf had given me a good plain sword in place of
that which I broke, but I took a spear now, ashen shafted and
strong, in the English way, that I might be armed as were my men,
and I think that pleased them.

The Danes came on fast, and they had not been miscounted. They were
full half as many again as we, and they were drawn up in line with
their horsemen on the wings as we were, so that at first I thought
we should fight man to man, both horse and foot, along the whole
front.

Now they came almost within bow shot, and there they halted and
closed up, leaning on their weapons, while a great man, tall and
black bearded, and clad in black chain mail, rode out before them
and came towards us with his right hand held up in token of parley.

Olaf went out from the line to meet him, and when they were close
together a great hush fell on the two hosts to hear what was said.

"Are you the leader of this host?" the Dane said.

"Aye. Who are you?" answered Olaf.

"I am Egil Thorarinsson, of Colchester," he answered. "And whoever
you may be, I call on you to yield to Cnut, King of Denmark and
England, and Norway also."

"Maybe he is king of neither," Olaf answered quietly. "I am Olaf
Haraldsson, and I am here to see if he shall be King of England. So
I call on you to submit peaceably to Ethelred, leaving Cnut to take
his own land if he can."

"We are Cnut's men and Danes," answered Egil, "and from your speech
and name it would seem that you are no Englishman. Now if you are
Olaf the Thick, own your own king Cnut, and leave this Ethelred the
Unredy to his own foolishness."

"I am one of those Norsemen who hold that Cnut is no king of ours,
and therefore I fight him wherever I can. But if you will own
Ethelred there shall be peace from him, and you will but do what
the D