“The Serpent began to lean over very much when the large timbers were dropped on one gunwale, and thereupon many fell on both sides. When the defenders of the Serpent began to thin, Eirik boarded it and met with a warm reception.
“When King Olaf’s stem-defenders saw that the Jarl had got up on the Serpent, they went aft and turned against him, and made a very hard resistance; but then so many began to fall on the Serpent, that the gunwales were in many places deserted, and the Jarl’s men boarded them; and all the men who were standing up for defence withdrew aft to where the king was. Haldór (a poet) says that the jarl urged on his men.
It is said that Thorstein Uxafót was in the foreroom aft by the lypting,[[162]] and said to the king, when the Jarl’s men came thickest on board the Serpent: ‘Lord, each man must now do what he can?’ ‘Why not?’ answered the king. Thorstein struck with his fist one of the Jarl’s men, who jumped up on the gunwale near him; he hit his cheek so hard that he dropped out into the sea, and at once perished. After this Thorstein became so enraged, that he took up the sailyard and fought with it. When the king saw this, he said to Thorstein: ‘Take thy weapons, man, and defend thyself with them; for weapons, and not hands alone or timber, are meant for men to fight with in battle.’ Thorstein then took his sword, and fought valiantly. There was still a most fierce fight in the foreroom, and King Olaf shot from the lypting javelins or spears, both hard and often. When he saw that Eirik Jarl had come into the foreroom of the Serpent, he shot at him with three short-handled kesjas (a kind of spear), but they did not go as usual (for he never missed his aim when shooting), and none of these kesjas hit the Jarl. The first flew past his right side, the second his left, and the third flew on to the forepart of the ship above the Jarl’s head. Then the king said: ‘Never before did I thus miss a man; great is the Jarl’s hamingia (luck); it must be God’s will that he now shall rule in Norway; and that is not strange, for I think he has changed the stem-dweller on the Bardi. I said to-day that he would not gain victory over us, if he had Thor in the stem.’
“As many of the Jarl’s men had got up on board the Serpent as could be there, and his ships lay on all sides of it, and but few remained for defence against such a host. In a short time many of King Olaf’s champions fell, though they were both strong and valiant. There fell both the king’s brothers-in-law, Hyrning and Thorgeir, Vikar of Tiundaland, Úlf the red, and many other brave men, who left a famous name behind.
“Kolbjörn Stallari (Marshal) had defended the stem during the day with the other stem-defenders; he had weapons and clothing very much like King Olaf, and he had dressed so because he thought that, if necessary, as it now was, he might save the life of the king. When the most valiant of the king’s men in the foreroom began to fall, Kolbjörn went up on the lypting to the king. It was not easy to tell them apart, for Kolbjörn was a very large and handsome man. There was then such a thick shower of weapons in the lypting, that the shields of King Olaf and Kolbjörn were covered all over with arrows. But when the Jarl’s men came up to the lypting, it seemed to them that so much light came over the king that they could not see through it, yet when the light vanished they saw King Olaf nowhere.” (Olaf Tryggvason’s Saga, Fornmanna Sögur, ii., 299–332).
The Battle of the Jomsvikings arose out of a vow made by Sigvaldi, at the arvel given by King Svein Tjuguskegg (forked beard) for Strut Harald Jarl, that he would rule Norway.
“The Jomsvikings went northward along the coast, plundering and ravaging wherever they landed. They made great coast raids, slew many men, and often burned towns; all, who heard of them and could flee, fled. When they were at Úlfasund, off Stad, it is said that they and Hakon jarl heard of each other. They sailed twenty sea-miles northward from Stad, and entered the harbour at Hereyjar, and laid all their fleet therein. Then they were in want of food again, and Vagn Ákason went on his skeid to the island Höd, not knowing that the jarl lay in the bay, near the island. Vagn landed. They went up, wishing to make a shore raid if they could. They happened to meet a man driving three cows and twelve goats. Vagn asked for his name. He said it was Úlf. Vagn said to his men: ‘Take the cows and the goats and slaughter them, and any other cattle you may find here, for our ship.’ Úlf asked: ‘Who commands the men on board this ship?’ ‘Vagn Ákason,’ was the answer. Úlf said: ‘I think there are, not very far from you, bigger cattle for slaughter than my cows or goats.’ Vagn said: ‘If thou knowest anything about the journey of Hakon jarl tell us, and, if thou canst tell us with truth where he is, thy, cows and goats are safe; what knowest thou about him?’ Úlf answered: ‘He lay with one ship late yesterday night inside of the island Höd, in Hjörungavag, and you can slay him when you like, for he is waiting for his men.’ Vagn said: ‘Then all thy cattle are safe; come on board our ship, and show us the way to the jarl.’ Úlf said: ‘That is not right for me, and I will not fight against the jarl, but if you wish I will show you the way into the bay; and, if I go on board, you must promise to let me go when you see your way into the bay.’ Úlf went on board early in the day, and Vagn, as quickly as he could, went back to Hereyjar, and told Sigvaldi and the Jomsvikings the news that Úlf told.
“The Jomsvikings made themselves ready as if they were to go into a most fierce battle, though Úlf said it was not needed. When they were quite ready they rowed towards the bay. It is said that Úlf thought they would see more ships there than he had told of. When the ships came into sight, Úlf jumped overboard and wanted to swim to the shore and not wait for his reward. When Vagn saw this he wished to give him what he deserved, snatched a spear and threw it after him; it hit him in the middle and killed him. All the Jomsvikings rowed into the bay, and saw that it was covered all over with warships. There were more than three hundred ships, snekkjas and skeids and trading-ships. The Jomsvikings at once arrayed their ships. Hakon and his sons saw the Jomsvikings come, and at once unfastened their ships and said which were to fight against which. It is told that the upper end of Hjörungavag is to the east, and its mouth to the west; three rocks, one larger than the two others, stand in the bay; they are called Hjörungs, and the bay is named from them. There is a reef in the middle of the bay at the same distance from the shore in three directions. An island called Primsigd is north of the bay, and Harund is south of it, off Harundarfjord.
“The Jomsvikings arrayed their ships thus: Sigvaldi laid his ship in the middle, Thorkel the high, his brother, laid his next thereto; Búi the stout and Sigurd Kápa, his brother, had theirs in the one wing of the array, and Vagn Ákason and Björn the British in the other. Hakon jarl determined who should fight against these champions, and in most places three were placed against one. As to their array, Svein, son of Hakon, was placed against Sigvaldi; three chiefs were arrayed against Thorkel the high, Yrjaskeggi, Sigurd Steikling, Thórir Hjört (stag); two were with Svein Hakonarson against Sigvaldi, Gudbrand of Dalir, and Styrkár of Gimsar. Against Búi were Hallstein Kerlingabani, and Thorkel Leira and Thorkel Midlang (iendirmen). Against Sigurd Kápa were Ármód of Önundarfjord and his son Árni. Against Vagn Ákason were Eirík jarl Hakonarson, Erling of Skuggi, and Ögmund the white, whose hand Vagn cut off. Against Björn the British were Einar the little, Hávard Uppsjá, and Hallvard of Flydrunes, Hávard’s brother; Hakon himself was not arrayed against any one, but had to support the whole line and command it.
“The fleets closed, and Hakon jarl was with his son Svein to support him against Sigvaldi. A most fierce fight began, and one could find no fault with the onset or attack of either; it is told that it went equally with Sigvaldi and Hakon and Svein, so that neither moved backwards. Then Hakon jarl saw that Búi had forced back a long way some of the northern wing of their array, and those who fought against him drew back with their ships, and thought it better to retreat; he followed up, nevertheless, and dealt heavy blows; they were ill-treated by him, and he was dangerous to men in the battle. The Jarl saw that the fight was equal with Eirík and Vagn in the southern wing. Eirík went thence with his own ship, and his brother Svein with another, up to Búi and fought against him, and put the wing in line again, but could do no more. Hakon meanwhile fought against Sigvaldi, and when Eirík came back to the southern wing Vagn had forced back many of Eirík’s ships, which had retreated and had been separated, so that Vagn went through the line and attacked them fiercely. Eirík became very angry when he saw this, and boarded the skeid which Vagn steered valiantly with his Járnbardi. They came alongside of each other and fought again, and never had the fight been harder than then. Vagn and Áslák Hólmskalli jumped on board Eirík’s Járnbardi from their skeid, and each went along the side of the ship, and Áslák dealt blows on both sides, so to speak, as also did Vagn, and they cleared their way so that all fell back. Eirík saw that these men were so fierce and mad that this would not last long, and that the Jarl’s help must be got as quick as possible. Áslák was bald and had no helmet on his head, and exposed his bare skull; the weather was bright, clear, and warm, and many took off their clothes on account of the heat, and wore only their armour. Now Eirík goaded his men on, and they made an attack on Áslák, and struck his head with swords and axes, thinking it would be most dangerous to him as his head was bare. Nevertheless it is said that the weapons rebounded from his skull, whether they were swords or axes, and did not cut, and sparks flew from the skull at the blows. Whatever they did, he went forward fiercely, and cleared his way by many hard and heavy blows, slaying many a man. Vigfús, son of Vígaglúm, caught up a large beaked anvil which lay on the deck of the Járnbardi, on which he had previously rivetted the guards of his sword as they had been unfastened; he struck at Áslák so that its beak sank into his head; Áslák could not withstand that, and at once fell dead. Vagn went along the other side, and cleared his way, dealing blows on both sides and wounding many; then Thorleif Skúma ran to meet Vagn, struck at him with his club, and hit his helmet; the blow was so strong that the skin under the helmet was grazed, and Vagn leant over and staggered towards Thorleif, and at the same time thrust his sword at Thorleif; then he leapt from the Járnbardi, and came down standing on his skeid, and none made a harder onset than he and all his men. Nevertheless he and Áslák had killed so many on the Járnbardi, that Eirík put men from other ships on it till it was fully manned, as he thought it needful; and a very fierce fight followed. Then Eirík saw that Hakon with his array had landed, and there was some pause in the battle....[[163]] The sky began to darken in the north, and a dark and black cloud glided up from the sea, spreading quickly; it was about noon, and the cloud soon spread all over the sky, and a shower of hail followed at once, and the Jomsvikings had all to fight with their faces against the hail, which seemed to be followed by lightning and thunder-claps. This hail-shower was so terrible, that some of the men could do no more than stand against it, as they had previously taken off their clothes on account of the heat. They began to shiver, though they fought boldly enough. It is said that Hávard Höggvandi, Búi’s follower, was the first who saw Hördabrúd in the host of Hakon jarl, and many with second sight,[[164]] and even those who had no second sight, saw. When the hail-shower abated a little, they also saw that an arrow flew from each finger of the Troll, ‘M’tch’ as it seemed to them, and always hit and killed a man. They told Sigvaldi and others; and Hakon and his men made the hardest onset they could when the shower burst and while it lasted. Then Sigvaldi said: ‘It seems to me that it is not men whom we have to fight to-day, but the worst Troll (fiends), and it requires some manliness to go boldly against them, though it is clear that men must take heart as they can.’ It is told of Hakon, that when he saw the shower abate and it was not as violent as it had been, he once more invoked Thorgerd and her sister Irpa, saying that he had made himself deserving by sacrificing his son for victory. Then the hail-shower burst on them again, and when it began Hávard Höggvandi saw that two women were in Hakon jarl’s ship, and that they did the same as he had seen the one do before. Sigvaldi said: ‘Now I will flee, and all my men shall do so, for it is worse than when I spoke of it before, as there was but one Trollwoman then, but now there are two, and I will not stand it any longer; our excuse is that we do not flee from men, though we draw back; but we did not vow to fight against fiends.’ He (Sigvaldi) turned away his ship, and shouted to Vagn and Búi to flee as quickly as they could. When he unfastened his ship and shouted, Thorkel Midlang jumped from his ship on board Búi’s, and at once struck at Búi. In the twinkling of an eye he cut off his lower lip and the whole of his chin downward, so that it fell on the ship, and Búi’s teeth flew off at the blow. Búi said when he got the wound: ‘The Danish woman in Borgundarhólm will not be as fond of kissing me, even though I get home now.’ Búi struck at Thorkel; the deck was slippery from blood, so that Thorkel fell at the shield-row when he tried to escape the blow, which hit him in the middle, and cut him in two at the gunwale. Immediately after this Búi took one of his gold-chests in each hand, and jumped overboard with them; neither he nor the chests came up or were seen thereafter. Some say that when Búi stepped on the gunwale to jump overboard he spoke these words: ‘Overboard, all Búi’s men.’ Sigvaldi left the fleet, and did not know that Búi was gone overboard, and shouted to Vagn and Búi’s to flee, as he was about to do.... Sigvaldi was cold from the shower, and began rowing to warm himself, while another man sat at the rudder. When Vagn saw Sigvaldi he flung a spear at him, thinking it was he who sat at the rudder, but Sigvaldi was rowing, and the man at the rudder was hit. As Vagn flung the spear from his hand he said to Sigvaldi that he should die as the meanest of men. Thorkel the high, Sigvaldi’s brother, went away with six ships as soon as Sigvaldi was dead, and so did Sigurd Kápa, for his brother Búi was gone overboard, and he could wait for him no longer. They both thought they had fulfilled their vows, and went home to Denmark with twenty-four ships. All who could leave the remaining ships jumped on board Vagn’s skeid, and there they defended themselves very valiantly till it was dark; then the battle ended, and very many were still on their feet in Vagn’s skeid. Hakon jarl was overtaken by night and could not make a search as to how many were alive or likely to live in the ships, so he had a watch set during the night that no man should escape from them, and they took all the rigging down. Then Hakon rowed to the land, and pitched tents; they thought they had reason to boast of the victory. Then they weighed the hailstones in order to prove the power of Thorgerd and Irpa; it was well proved, for it is told that each hailstone weighed one eyrir, and they were weighed in scales. Thereafter the wounds of the men were dressed, and Hakon jarl and Gudbrand of Dalir watched during the night” (Jomsvikinga Saga, c. 41–44).