Page:The Early Kings of Norway.djvu/147

 REIGN OF KING OLAF THE SAINT. 137 lost sight of them ! '* said Erling to his, and put on all his speed ; Olaf going, soon after this, altogether invisible,— behind a little ; island that he knew of, whence into a certain fiord or bay (Bay of Fungen on the maps), which he thought would suit him. " Halt here, and get out your arms," said Olaf, and had not to wait long till Erling came bounding in, past the rocky promontory, and with astonishment beheld Olaf's ^fleet of twelve with their battle-axes and their grappling-irons all in perfect readiness. These fell on him, the unready Erling, simultaneous, like a cluster of angry bees ; and in a few minutes cleared his ship of men altogether, except Erling himself. Nobody asked his life, nor probably would have got it if he had. Only Erling still stood erect on a high place on the poop, fiercely defensive, and very difficult to get at. * Could not be reached at all,* says Snorro, * except by spears or arrows, and these he warded off with untiring dexterity ; no man in Norway, it was said, had ever defended himself so long alone against many,' — an almost invincible Erling, had his cause been good. Olaf himself noticed Erling's behaviour, and said to him, from the