“Eirik Jarl was in the foreroom of his ship, where a shieldburgh was drawn up. There was both hand-to-hand fight and spear-throwing and every kind of weapon was thrown, and whatever could be seized by the hand. Some shot with bows or with their hands, and such a shower of weapons was poured upon the Serpent that the men could hardly protect themselves against it. Then spears and arrows flew thickly, for on all sides of the Serpent lay warships. King Olaf’s men now became so furious that they jumped upon the gunwales in order to reach their foes with their swords and kill them, but many did not lay their ships so close to the Serpent as to get into the hand-to-hand fight, most of them thought it hard to deal with Olaf’s champions. “The Northmen thought of nothing but continually going forward to slay their foes, and many went straight overboard; for out of eagerness and daring they forgot that they were not fighting on dry ground, and many sank down with their weapons between the ships.... “King Olaf Tryggvason stood on the lypting of the Serpent, and chiefly used during the day his bow and javelins; and always two javelins at a time. It was agreed by all, both friends and foes, who were present, and those who have heard these tidings told with the greatest truth, that they have known no man fight more valiantly than King Olaf Tryggvason. King Olaf surpassed most other kings, in that he made himself so easily known in the battle that men knew no example of any king having shown himself so openly to his foes, especially as he had to fight against such an overwhelming force. The king showed the bravery of his mind, and the pride of his heart, so that all men might see that he shunned no danger. The better he was seen and the greater lack of fear he showed in the battle, the greater fear and terror he inspired. “King Olaf saw that his men on the fore part of the ship frequently raised their swords to strike, and that the swords cut badly. He cried out: ‘Why do you raise your swords so slowly? I see they do not bite?’ A man replied: ‘Our swords are both dull and broken, lord.’ The king then went down from the lypting into the foreroom and unlocked the high-seat chest, and took therefrom many bright and sharp swords, which he gave to his men. As he put down his right hand they saw that blood flowed out of the sleeve of the coat-of-mail, but no one knew where he was wounded. “Hard and bloody was the defence of the foreroom men and the stem-defenders, for in both those places the gunwale was highest and the men picked. When the fall of men began on the Serpent, it was first amidships, mostly from wounds and exhaustion, and men say that if these brave men could have kept up their defence the Serpent would never have been won.