embled as
she did so--and Glumm led her down the hill.

The girls were escorted by their lovers only as far as Ulfstede. With
all the other women of the place, and the old people, they were put
under the care of the hermit, who conveyed them safely to Haldorstede,
there to await the issue of the day.

Meanwhile, Haldor, Erling, Glumm, Hakon of Drontheim, Ulf, Guttorm
Stoutheart, and all the other Sea-kings, not only of Horlingdal, but of
the surrounding valleys, with a host of smaller bonders, unfreemen, and
thralls, went down to the shores of the bay and prepared for battle.

It is needless to say that all were armed to the teeth--with coats of
mail and shirts of wolf-skin; swords and battle-axes, bows and arrows,
halberds and spears, "morning stars" and bills, scythes, javelins,
iron-shod poles--and many other weapons.

The principal ships of the fleet were of course those belonging to
Haldor, Ulf, and the wealthier men of the district. Some of these were
very large--having thirty benches of rowers, and being capable of
carrying above a hundred and fifty men. All of them were more or less
decorated, and a stately brilliant spectacle they presented, with their
quaint towering figureheads, their high poops, shield-hung sides, and
numerous oars. Many proud thoughts doubtless filled the hearts of these
Sea-kings as they looked at their ships and men, and silently wended
their way down to the strand. In the case of Haldor and Erling,
however, if not of others, such thoughts were tempered with the feeling
that momentous issues hung on the fate of the day.

Well was it for all concerned that the men who led them that day were so
full of forethought and energy, for scarcely had they completed their
preparations and embarked their forces when the ships of Harald Fairhair
swept round the northern promontory.

If the fleet of the small kings of Horlingdal and the south was
imposing, that of the King of Norway was still more so. Besides, being
stronger in numbers, and many of the warships being larger--his own huge
vessel, the Dragon, led the van, appearing like a gorgeous and gigantic
sea-monster.

The King was very proud of this longship. It had recently been built by
him, and was one of the largest that had ever been seen in Norway. The
exact dimensions of it are not now known, but we know that it had
thirty-two banks for rowers, from which we may infer that it must have
been of nearly the same size with the Lo