rom telling him till night
fell.

Then Ospak spoke and said--"When blood rained on you, therefore shall ye
shed many men's blood, both of your own and others. But when ye heard a
great din, then ye must have been shown the crack of doom, and ye shall
all die speedily. But when weapons fought against you, that must forbode
a battle; but when ravens pressed you, that marks the devils which ye
put faith in, and who will drag you all down to the pains of hell."

Then Brodir was so wroth that he could answer never a word, but he went
at once to his men, and made them lay his ships in a line across the
sound, and moor them by bearing their cables on shore at either end of
the line, and meant to slay them all next morning.

Ospak saw all their plan, and then he vowed to take the true faith, and
to go to King Brian, and follow him till his death-day.

Then he took that counsel to lay his ships in a line, and punt them
along the shore with poles, and cut the cables of Brodir's ships. Then
the ships of Brodir's men began to fall aboard of one another when they
were all fast asleep; and so Ospak and his men got out of the firth, and
so west to Ireland, and came to Connaught.

Then Ospak told King Brian all that he had learnt, and took baptism, and
gave himself over into the king's hand.

After that King Brian made them gather force over all his realm, and the
whole host was to come to Dublin in the week before Palm Sunday.

CHAPTER CLVI.

BRIAN'S BATTLE.

Earl Sigurd Hlodver's son busked him from the Orkneys, and Flosi offered
to go with him.

The Earl would not have that, since he had his pilgrimage to fulfil.

Flosi offered fifteen men of his band to go on the voyage, and the Earl
accepted them, but Flosi fared with Earl Gilli to the Southern Isles.

Thorstein, the Son of Hall of the Side, went along with Earl Sigurd, and
Hrafn the red, and Erling of Straumey.

He would not that Hareck should go, but said he would be sure to be the
first to tell him the tidings of his voyage.

The Earl came with all his host on Palm Sunday to Dublin, and there too
was come Brodir with all his host.

Brodir tried by sorcery how the fight would go, but the answer ran thus,
that if the fight were on Good Friday King Brian would fall but win the
day; but if they fought before, they would all fall who were against
him.

Then Brodir said that they must not fight before the Friday.

On the fifth day of the week a man rode u