More is not said of the Earl’s progress till they came south off Serkland, and lay near Sardinia, not knowing where the land was. It was very calm, and a thick fog spread over the water, so that they could hardly see anything from the ships, and they sailed therefore slowly. One morning the mist disappeared, and the crew arose and looked around and saw two islets. When they looked for them the second time, there was but one islet. This they told to the Earl. Then he said: “This cannot have been islets which you have seen; it must be ships such as they have in this part of the world, and which they call Drómundar.[[381]] From a distance they look as big as holms. But where the other Drómund lay, a puff of wind has probably swept over the water, and she has sailed away; but they are likely some rovers.”
Then he summoned the Bishop and all the ship-commanders, and said: “I ask of you my Lord Bishop, and Erling my kinsman, whether you see any chance or device by which we may overcome those in the Drómund.”
The Bishop replied: “I think you will find it difficult to attack the Drómund in your long-ships, for you will hardly be able to reach their bulwarks with a boarding-pike, and they have probably brimstone and boiling pitch to pour under your feet and over your heads. You may see, Earl Rögnvald, wise as you are, that it would be the greatest rashness to place yourself and your men in such jeopardy.”
Then Erling said: “My Lord Bishop, it may be that you are right in thinking that we shall not obtain the victory by rowing at them; yet I cannot help thinking that if we try to push close to the Drómund, their missiles will fall beyond our ships lying close alongside; but if this be not the case, we can push away quickly, for they will not be able to chase us in the Drómund.”
The Earl said: “That is bravely spoken, and very much to my own mind. I will now make it known to the ships’ commanders and all the men, that every one may arm and prepare himself, each in his own place, as well as he can. Then let us attack them, and if they are Christian merchants, we can make peace with them; but if they are heathens, which I think they are, by the favour of Almighty God we shall be able to overcome them, but of the booty we obtain we shall give every fiftieth penny to the poor.”
Then they unfastened their arms, prepared the bulwarks of their ships for battle, and made themselves ready in other ways as their circumstances permitted. The Earl assigned to each vessel its place in the attack; then they pulled vigorously onwards.
CHAPTER LXXXII
RÖGNVALD CONQUERS THE DRÓMUND.
When the men in the Drómund saw the ships pulling towards them, to attack them, they spread fine clothing and costly stuffs out on the bulwarks, and made a great shouting, which the Earl’s men took as a challenge. Earl Rögnvald brought his ship close under the stem of the Drómund, on the starboard side. Erling did the same on the larboard side. Jón and Aslák brought theirs under her bows, and the others amidships on either side, all sticking as close to her as possible. But when they came close under the Drómund, she was so high in the side that the Northmen were unable to use their weapons, and the others poured blazing brimstone and burning pitch over them; but most of it fell outside the ships, as Erling had foreseen, and they had no need to shield themselves from it. However, when the attack did not succeed, the Bishop moved away his ship and two others, and they told off their bowmen to go in them. After having got to a convenient distance for shooting, they shot their arrows into the Drómund, and this was the most effective mode of attack. The men in the Drómund protected themselves with their shields, and paid little heed to what those were doing who were in the ships close under the Drómund.
Earl Rögnvald then ordered his men to take their axes, and cut the planks of the Drómund, where the iron fastenings were fewest; and when the men in the other ships saw what the Earl’s men were doing, they did the same. Now, where Erling had stationed himself, there was a large anchor hanging from the Drómund, which had its fluke hooked over the gunwale, but the shank hung down towards Erling’s ship. One of his forecastle men was named Andun Raudi (red); he was lifted up on the anchor-stock, and then he pulled up others. Standing there as close as they could, they hacked away at the planks with all their might; and this was far higher than the others could reach. When they had made an opening large enough to admit them, they prepared to board the Drómund. The Earl and his men entered on the lower deck, and Erling and his men on the upper; and when they both got in, there began to be severe fighting. Those in the Drómund were Saracens, whom we call Mahometan infidels. There were also many black men, who withstood them most fiercely. Erling received a severe wound in the neck, near the shoulder, when he jumped on board; it healed so badly that he carried his head to a side ever after, and therefore he was called crick-neck (Skakki).
When Earl Rögnvald and Erling joined each other, the Saracens were driven to the forepart of the ship; and the Earl’s men boarded one after another until they were more numerous, and then they pressed the enemy hard. In the Drómund they saw one man far superior to the others in appearance and stature, and they were persuaded that he must be their chief. Earl Rögnvald ordered his men not to wound him, if they could seize him in any other way. Then they surrounded him, and pressed him with their shields, and thus caught him. He and a few others with him were sent to the Bishop’s ship. All the rest they killed, and obtained great booty and many precious things. When they had finished the hardest part of their work, they sat down and rested, and the Earl sang: