raised against him, that he appeared hard and severe in his
retributions. Besides, King Knut offered large sums of money, and the
great chiefs were corrupted by this, and by his offering them greater
dignities than they had possessed before." On these grounds, against the
intolerable man, great and small were now pouring along by every path.

Olaf perceived it would still be some time before the Bonder army was
in rank. His own Dag of Sweden, too, was not yet come up; he was to have
the right banner; King Olaf's own being the middle or grand one; some
other person the third or left banner. All which being perfectly ranked
and settled, according to the best rules, and waiting only the arrival
of Dag, Olaf bade his men sit down, and freshen themselves with a little
rest. There were religious services gone through: a matins-worship such
as there have been few; sternly earnest to the heart of it, and deep as
death and eternity, at least on Olaf's own part. For the rest Thormod
sang a stave of the fiercest Skaldic poetry that was in him; all the
army straightway sang it in chorus with fiery mind. The Bonder of the
nearest farm came up, to tell Olaf that he also wished to fight for him
"Thanks to thee; but don't," said Olaf; "stay at home rather, that the
wounded may have some shelter." To this Bonder, Olaf delivered all the
money he had, with solemn order to lay out the whole of it in masses
and prayers for the souls of such of his enemies as fell. "Such of thy
enemies, King?" "Yes, surely," said Olaf, "my friends will all either
conquer, or go whither I also am going."

At last the Bonder army too was got ranked; three commanders, one of
them with a kind of loose chief command, having settled to take charge
of it; and began to shake itself towards actual advance. Olaf, in
the mean while, had laid his head on the knees of Finn Arneson, his
trustiest man, and fallen fast asleep. Finn's brother, Kalf Arneson,
once a warm friend of Olaf, was chief of the three commanders on the
opposite side. Finn and he addressed angry speech to one another from
the opposite ranks, when they came near enough. Finn, seeing the enemy
fairly approach, stirred Olaf from his sleep. "Oh, why hast thou wakened
me from such a dream?" said Olaf, in a deeply solemn tone. "What dream
was it, then?" asked Finn. "I dreamt that there rose a ladder here
reaching up to very Heaven," said Olaf; "I had climbed and climbed,
and got to the very last step, and sho