d dragon-head
shining brightly in the sunlight. Not long after the Long Serpent
appeared, its golden prow glittering brilliantly as the sunbeams fell
upon it. Those who saw it marvelled at its size and beauty and many
beheld with dread the glittering array of swords and shields as it came
sweeping onward.

But the great body of King Olaf's ships had gone on without thought of a
foeman and were now out of sight. Only eleven of them remained, and some
of his captains advised him not to fight against such odds.

"Down with the sails," he cried cheerily. "Bind the ships together. Never
yet have I fled from battle and I will not do so now. God is my shield
and I will flee from no foe. He is no king who lets fear put him to
flight before his enemies."

Yet his peril was deadly, as was evident when the fleet of more than
sixty ships rowed out from its ambush against Olaf's eleven.

"Who is the leader here before us?" he asked.

"That is King Sweyn with his Danes," said one of the men.

"Let them come on. Danes have never yet beaten Norsemen, and they will
not to-day. But whose standards are those on the right?"

"They are those of Olaf of Sweden."

"The heathen Swedes had better have stayed at home to lick their
sacrificial bowls. We need not fear these horse-eaters. Yonder to the
left; whose ships are those?"

"They belong to Earl Erik, the son of Earl Haakon."

"Then we may look for hard blows from them. Erik and his men are Norsemen
like ourselves, and he has reason not to love me and mine."

While he spoke Queen Thyra, who was with him, came on deck. When she saw
the desperate odds she burst into tears.

"Do not weep," said Olaf. "You have got what was due in Wendland; and
to-day I will do my best to win your rights from your brother Sweyn."

King Sweyn came first into the fray, but after a stubborn fight was
driven off with great carnage. Then the Swedes swarmed to the rescue, and
a second hard battle ensued, in which the Norsemen were outnumbered ten
to one. Yet Olaf, with shining helmet and shield and a tunic of scarlet
silk over his armor, directed the defence, and gave his men such courage
by his fierce valor that the victory would have been his but for Earl
Erik.

When Erik's great galley, the Iron Ram, came into the fight and Norse met
Norse, the onset was terrific. Greatly outnumbered, worn out with their
exertions, and many of them bleeding from wounds, the men in ship after
ship were overpowered