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 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.