some of them were not far short of his
own in point of size. Many of his jarls were wealthy men, and had
joined him, some with ten or twenty, and others with thirty, or even
forty, ships of various sizes. Many of them had from twenty to thirty
banks for rowers, with crews of 100 or 150 men. There were also great
numbers of cutters with ten or fifteen banks, and from thirty to fifty
men in each, besides a swarm of lesser craft, about the size of our
ordinary herring boats.

There were many men of note in this fleet, such as King Sigurd of Royer
and Simun's sons; Onund and Andreas; Nicolas Skialdvarsson; Eindrid, a
son of Mornef, who was the most gallant and popular man in the Drontheim
country, and many others; the whole composing a formidable force of
seven or eight thousand warriors.

With Haldor the Fierce, on the other hand, there was a goodly force of
men and ships; for the whole south country had been aroused, and they
came pouring into the fiord continuously. Nevertheless they did not
number nearly so large a force as that under King Harald. Besides those
who have been already named, there were Eric, king of Hordaland; Sulke,
king of Rogaland, and his brother Jarl Sote; Kiotve the Rich, king of
Agder, and his son Thor Haklang; also the brothers Roald Ryg, and Hadd
the Hard, of Thelemark, besides many others. But their whole number did
not exceed four thousand men; and the worst of it all was that among
these there were a great many of the smaller men, and a few of the
chiefs whose hearts were not very enthusiastic in the cause, and who had
no very strong objection to take service under Harald Fairhair. These,
however, held their peace, because the greater men among them, and the
chief leaders, such as Haldor and Ulf, were very stern and decided in
their determination to resist the King.

Now, when the report was brought that Harald's fleet had doubled the
distant cape beyond Hafurdsfiord, the people crowded to the top of the
cliffs behind Ulfstede to watch it; and when it was clearly seen that it
was so much larger than their own, there were a few who began to say
that it would be wiser to refrain from resistance; but Haldor called a
Thing together on the spot by sound of horn, and a great many short
pithy speeches were made on both sides of the question. Those who were
for war were by far the most able men, and so full of fire that they
infused much of their own spirit into those who heard them. Erlin