and these cut adrift, their defenders being slain.
At length only the Long Serpent remained, and against it was driven the
Iron Ram.

There was little wind and the damage was not great, and soon the storm of
spears and arrows was resumed. Einer Thambarkskelver, the famous bowman,
saw Earl Erik in the prow of his ship screened by the shields of his men,
and soon Einer's arrows were hurtling around him.

"Shoot that tall bowman," said Erik to one of his own archers.

An arrow sped and hit Einer's bow in the middle, breaking it in twain.

"What is broke?" asked Olaf, hearing the sound.

"Norway broke then from your hands, my king," said Einer.

"Not so bad as that; take my bow and try what it is worth."

Einer caught the bow, bent it double, and threw it back.

"It is too weak," he said.

Desperate was now the strait and no escape was possible. Olaf sent his
spears hurtling on Erik's crowded deck, but he saw that his men were
scarce able to hold their own.

"Your swords bite poorly," he said. "Have your arms lost their strength?"

"No," was the reply, "but our blades are dull and notched."

The king ran forward, opened a chest, and flung out armfulls of bright,
sharp swords.

"Here is what will bite deeply," he said.

But victory was now hopeless; the earl's men swept back the tired
warriors; blood flowed from under the king's armor; all hands were bent
against him, for he loomed above his men. Kolbjoern, a man who resembled
the king, sprang to his side and helped him shrewdly in the fray.

Still the stern combat went on, still the weapons flew, still men fell
groaning, and as the king looked along his deck he saw that only eight
men kept their feet besides himself and his companion. All was lost.
Raising the shield above his head, he leaped over the ship's side.
Kolbjoern followed and was picked up by the earl's men, who took him to be
the king. As for Olaf, the hungry sea swallowed his form.

Legend tells us, indeed, that he was rescued by a ship sent to his aid by
Aastrid, Earl Sigvalde's wife, and that he made a pilgrimage to Rome and
long afterwards lived as a hermit in the Holy Land. But that is one of
the stories based on good wishes rather than sound facts.

It was in the year 1000, when King Olaf was thirty-six years old, that
this famous sea-fight took place. Queen Thyra felt that she had caused
his death and could not be consoled. Erik treated her kindly and promised
her the honors due to her