Page:The Heimskringla; or, Chronicle of the Kings of Norway Vol 3.djvu/164

 152 CHRONICLE OF THE SAGA XII. And also this verse : — " I heard that through the town he went^ And heathen widows' wild lament Resounded in the empty halls; For every townsman flies or falls." Chapter King Sigurd then proceeded on his voyage, and Battle in camc to Norfa sound* ; and in the sound he was met the island j^y ^^ lar2:e vikino; force, and the kino; ^ave them battle : Formen- J o o 7 00 tara. and this was his fifth engagement with heathens snice the time he left Norway. He gained the victory here also. So says Halldor Skualldre : — " Ye moistened your dry swords with blood. As through Niorfa sound ye stood: The screaming raven got a feast, As ye sailed onward to the East." King Sigurd then sailed eastward along the coast of Serklandf, and came to an island there called Formentara. There a great many heathen Moors had taken up their dwelling in a cave, and had built a strong stone-wall before its mouth. It was high up to climb to the wall, so that whoever attempted to ascend was driven back with stones or missile wea- pons. They berried the country all round, and carried all their booty to their cave. King Sigurd landed on this island, and went to the cave ; but it lay in a pre- cipice, and there was a high winding path to the stone- wall, and the precipice above projected over it. The heathens defended the stone-wall, and were not afraid of the Northmen's arms ; for they could throw stones, or shoot down upon the Northmen under their feet : neither did the Northmen, under such circumstances, dare to mount up. The heathens took their clothes and other valuable things, carried them out upon the wall, spread them out before the Northmen, shouted, ♦ Norfa Sound,— the Streights of Gibraltar ; so called from Norfa, the first Norse viking who passed through it. t Serkland is the Saracen's land, the North of Africa ; and the inha- bitants blucmen, — the Moors.