第74章

King Olaf sailed from thence south to Friesland, and lay under the strand of Kinlima in dreadful weather.The king landed with his men; but the people of the country rode down to the strand against them, and he fought them.So says Sigvat: --"Under Kinlima's cliff, This battle is the fifth.

The brave sea-rovers stand All on the glittering sand;And down the horsemen ride To the edge of the rippling tide:

But Olaf taught the peasant band To know the weight of a viking's hand."11.DEATH OF KING SVEIN FORKED BEARD.

The king sailed from thence westward to England.It was then the case that the Danish king, Svein Forked Beard, was at that time in England with a Danish army, and had been fixed there for some time, and had seized upon King Ethelred's kingdom.The Danes had spread themselves so widely over England, that it was come so far that King Ethelred had departed from the country, and had gone south to Valland.The same autumn that King Olaf came to England, it happened that King Svein died suddenly in the night in his bed; and it is said by Englishmen that Edmund the Saint killed him, in the same way that the holy Mercurius had killed the apostate Julian.When Ethelred, the king of the English, heard this in Flanders, he returned directly to England; and no sooner was he come back, than he sent an invitation to all the men who would enter into his pay, to join him in recovering the country.Then many people flocked to him; and among others, came King Olaf with a great troop of Northmen to his aid.They steered first to London, and sailed into the Thames with their fleet; but the Danes had a castle within.On the other side of the river is a great trading place, which is called Sudvirke.

There the Danes had raised a great work, dug large ditches, and within had built a bulwark of stone, timber, and turf, where they had stationed a strong army.King Ethelred ordered a great assault; but the Danes defended themselves bravely, and King Ethelred could make nothing of it.Between the castle and Southwark (Sudvirke) there was a bridge, so broad that two wagons could pass each other upon it.On the bridge were raised barricades, both towers and wooden parapets, in the direction of the river, which were nearly breast high; and under the bridge were piles driven into the bottom of the river.Now when the attack was made the troops stood on the bridge everywhere, and defended themselves.King Ethelred was very anxious to get possession of the bridge, and he called together all the chiefs to consult how they should get the bridge broken down.Then said King Olaf he would attempt to lay his fleet alongside of it, if the other ships would do the same.It was then determined in this council that they should lay their war forces under the bridge; and each made himself ready with ships and men.

12.THE SIXTH BATTLE.

King Olaf ordered great platforms of floating wood to be tied together with hazel bands, and for this he took down old houses;and with these, as a roof, he covered over his ships so widely, that it reached over the ships' sides.Under this screen he set pillars so high and stout, that there both was room for swinging their swords, and the roofs were strong enough to withstand the stones cast down upon them.Now when the fleet and men were ready, they rode up along the river; but when they came near the bridge, there were cast down upon them so many stones and missile weapons, such as arrows and spears, that neither helmet nor shield could hold out against it; and the ships themselves were so greatly damaged, that many retreated out of it.But King Olaf, and the Northmen's fleet with him, rowed quite up under the bridge, laid their cables around the piles which supported it, and then rowed off with all the ships as hard as they could down the stream.The piles were thus shaken in the bottom, and were loosened under the bridge.Now as the armed troops stood thick of men upon the bridge, and there were likewise many heaps of stones and other weapons upon it, and the piles under it being loosened and broken, the bridge gave way; and a great part of the men upon it fell into the river, and all the ethers fled, some into the castle, some into Southwark.Thereafter Southwark was stormed and taken.Now when the people in the castle saw that the river Thames was mastered, and that they could not hinder the passage of ships up into the country, they became afraid, surrendered the tower, and took Ethelred to be their king.So says Ottar Svarte: --"London Bridge is broken down.--Gold is won, and bright renown.

Shields resounding, War-horns sounding, Hild is shouting in the din!

Arrows singing, Mail-coats ringing --

Odin makes our Olaf win!"

And he also composed these: --

"King Ethelred has found a friend:

Brave Olaf will his throne defend --

In bloody fight Maintain his right, Win back his land With blood-red hand, And Edmund's son upon his throne replace --Edmund, the star of every royal race!"Sigvat also relates as follows: --

"At London Bridge stout Olaf gave Odin's law to his war-men brave --`To win or die!'

And their foemen fly.

Some by the dyke-side refuge gain --

Some in their tents on Southwark plain!

The sixth attack Brought victory back."

13.THE SEVENTH BATTLE.

King Olaf passed all the winter with King Ethelred, and had a great battle at Hringmara Heath in Ulfkel's land, the domain which Ulfkel Snilling at that time held; and here again the king was victorious.So says Sigvat the skald: --"To Ulfkel's land came Olaf bold, A seventh sword-thing he would hold.

The race of Ella filled the plain --

Few of them slept at home again!

Hringmara heath Was a bed of death:

Harfager's heir Dealt slaughter there."

And Ottar sings of this battle thus: --

"From Hringmara field The chime of war, Sword striking shield, Rings from afar.

The living fly;

The dead piled high The moor enrich;

Red runs the ditch."

The country far around was then brought in subjection to King Ethelred: but the Thingmen (1) and the Danes held many castles, besides a great part of the country.

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