There's food for the raven-flight

Where thy sail-winged ship shall light :
Thy landing-tread

The people dread;

And the wolf howls for a feast

On the shore-side in the east."

CHAPTER V.-Olaf's first Battle.

The same autumn Olaf had his first battle at Sotasker, which lies in the Swedish skerry circle.* He fought there with some vikings, whose leader was Sote. Olaf had much fewer men, but his ships were larger, and he laid his ships between some blind rocks, which made it difficult for the vikings to get alongside; and Olaf's men threw grappling irons into the ships which came nearest, drew them up to their own vessels, and cleared them of men. The vikings took to flight after losing many men. Sigvat the skald tells of this fight in the lay in which he reckons up King Olaf's battles:

"They launch his ship where waves are foaming

To the sea shore

Bore mast and oar,

And sent him o'er the seas a-roaming.

Where did the sea-king first draw blood?

In the battle shock

At Sote's rock :

The wolves howl over their fresh food."

* The coast of Sweden and Norway is surrounded by a belt of rocks and islets, within which there is a smooth-water passage generally along the coast. This circle or belt is called the Skiergard—the skerrygard,-being a protection of rocks or skerries against the force of the ocean.-L.

CHAPTER VI.-Foray in Svithiod.

King Olaf steered thereafter eastwards to Svithiod, and into the Lag (the Mælar lake), and ravaged the land on both sides. He sailed all the way up to Sigtuna, and laid his ships close to the old Sigtuna. The Swedes say the stone-heaps are still to be seen which Olaf had laid under the ends of the gangways from the shore to the ships. When autumn was advanced, Olaf Haraldson heard that Olaf the Swedish king was assembling an army, and also that he had laid iron chains across Stoksund (the channel between the Mælar lake and the sea), and had laid troops there; for the Swedish king thought that Olaf Haraldson would be kept in there till frost came, and he thought little of Olaf's force, knowing he had but few people. Now when King Olaf Haraldson came to Stoksund he could not get through, as there was a castle west of the sound, and men-at-arms lay on the south; and he heard that the Swedish king was come there with a great army and many ships. He therefore dug a canal across the flat land Agnafit out to the sea. Over all Svithiod all the running waters fall into the Mælar lake; but the only outlet of it to the sea is so small that many rivers are wider, and when much rain or snow falls the water rushes in a great

* Svithiod, the country about Upsala, was Sweden Proper, and distinct from Gautland and other earldoms subject to Sweden. Scania belonged to Denmark.-L.

cataract out by Stoksund, and the lake rises high and floods the land. It fell heavy rain just at this time; and as the canal was dug out to the sea, the water and stream rushed into it. Then Olaf had all the rudders unshipped, and hoisted all sail aloft. It was blowing a strong breeze astern, and they steered with their oars, and the ships came in a rush over all the shallows, and got into the sea without any damage. Now went the Swedes to their king, Olaf, and told him that Olaf the Great had slipped out to sea; on which the king was enraged against those who should have watched that Olaf did not get away. This passage has since been called King's Sound; but large vessels cannot pass through it, unless the waters are very high. Some relate that the Swedes were aware that Olaf had cut across the tongue of land, and that the water was falling out that way; and they flocked to it with the intention to hinder Olaf from getting away, but the water undermined the banks on each side so that they fell in with the people, and many were drowned: but the Swedes contradict this as a false report, and deny the loss of people. The king sailed to Gotland in harvest, and prepared to plunder; but the Gotlanders assembled, and sent men to the king, offering him a scat. The king found this would suit him, and he received the scat, and remained there all winter. So says Ottar Svarte:

"Thou seaman-prince! thy men are paid:

The scat on Gotlanders is laid;

Young man or old

To our seamen bold

Must pay, to save his head :

The Yngling princes fled,
Eysyssel people bled:

Who can't defend the wealth they have
Must die, or share with the rover brave."

CHAPTER VII.-The Second Battle.

It is related here that King Olaf, when spring set in, sailed east to Eysyssel, and landed and plundered: the Eysyssel men came down to the strand and gave him battle. King Olaf gained the victory, pursued those who fled, and laid waste the land with fire and sword. It is told that when King Olaf first came to Eysyssel they offered him scat, and when the scat was to be brought down to the strand the king came to meet it with an armed force, and that was not what the bondes there expected; for they had brought no scat, but only their weapons with which they fought against the king, as before related. So says Sigvat the skald:

"With much deceit and bustle

To the heath of Eysyssel

The bondes brought the king,

To get scat at their weapon-thing.
But Olaf was too wise

To be taken by surprise :

Their legs scarce bore them off

O'er the common fast enough."

CHAPTER VIII.-The Third Battle.

After this they sailed to Finland and plundered there, and went up the country. All the people fled to the forest, and they had emptied their houses of all

household goods. The king went far up the country, and through some woods, and came to some dwellings in a valley called Herdaler,-where, however, they made but small booty, and saw no people; and as it was getting late in the day, the king turned back to his ships. Now when they came into the woods again people rushed upon them from all quarters, and made a severe attack. The king told his men to cover themselves with their shields, but before they got out of the woods he lost many people, and many were wounded; but at last, late in the evening, he got to the ships. The Finlanders conjured up in the night, by their witchcraft, a dreadful storm and bad weather on the sea; but the king ordered the anchors to be weighed and sail hoisted, and beat off all night to the outside of the land. The king's luck prevailed more than the Finlanders' witchcraft; for he had the luck to beat round the Balagard's-side * in the night, and so got out to sea. But the Finnish army proceeded on land, making the same progress as the king made with his ships. So says Sigvat :

"The third fight was at Herdaler, where
The men of Finland met in war
The hero of the royal race,

With ringing sword-blades face to face.
Off Balagard's shore the waves

Ran hollow; but the sea-king saves
His hard-pressed ship, and gains the lee

Of the east coast through the wild sea.”

* Balagard's-side is supposed to have been the coast between Abo and Helsingfors; and Herdaler some valley in that neighbourhood.-L.