The warriors led by Hartmut were still twelve miles away;
Yet had they come already over the wide, deep sea,
Unto the land of the Hegelings, and to its shores so nearly
That castles, towers, and palaces in Hilda’s town they all could see most clearly.
[751]
Ludwig, king of Normandy, bade that on the sand
They now should drop the anchors; he then gave word to land
To all his men together, and bade them do it quickly:
They now had come so near them, they feared the Hegeling bands would gather thickly.
[752]