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Encyclopedia Britannica



SWOLD (or SWOLD), BATTLE OF

This article appears in Volume V26, Page 269 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: SUS-TAV
SWOLD (or SWOLD), BATTLE OF , the most famous of the sea-fights of the ancient Norsemen. It took place on the 9th of September moo. The place cannot now be identified, as the formation of the Baltic
coast
  has been much modified in the course of subsequent centuries, partly by the
gradual
  silting up of the sea, and partly by the storms of the 14th century. Swold was an
island
  probably on the North German
coast
 , near Rugen. The battle was fought between Olaf Trygvesson, king of Norway, and a coalition of his enemiesEric Hakonson, his
cousin
  and rival; Olaf, the king of Sweden; and Sweyn Forkbeard, king of Denmark. The poets, and the poetically minded authors of the sagas, who are the only authorities, have told the story with many circumstances of romance. But when the picturesque details, which also have no doubt at least a foundation of truth, are taken at their true value, the account of the battle still presents a very trustworthy picture of the sea-fighting of the Norsemen. Olaf had been during the summer in the eastern Baltic. The allies lay in wait for him at the
island
  of Swold on his way
home
 .. The Norse king had with him seventy-one vessels, but part of them belonged to an associate, Sigwald, a
chief
  of the Jomsburg vikings, who was an agent of his enemies, and who deserted him. Olaf's own ships went past the anchor-age of Eric Hakonson and his allies in a long column without order, as no attack was expected. The king was in the rear of the whole of his best vessels. The allies allowed the bulk of the Norse ships to pass, and then stood out to attack Olaf. He might have run past them by the use of sail and oar to escape, but with the true spirit of a Norse warrior he refused to flee, and turned to give battle with the eleven ships immediately about him. The disposition adopted was one which is found recurring in many sea-fights of the middle ages where a
fleet
  had to fight on the defensive. Olaf lashed his ships side to side, his ownthe "Long Serpent," the finest war-vessel as yet built in the northbeing in the middle of the line, where her bows projected beyond the others. The advantage of this arrangement was that it left all hands free to fight, a barrier could be formed with the oars and yards, and the enemy's chance of making use of his superior numbers to attack on both sides would be, as far as possible, limiteda
great
  point when all fighting was with the sword, or with such feeble missile weapons as bows and javelins. The Norse long ships were high in the bulwarkor, as the Greeks would have said, " cataphract." Olaf, in fact, turned his eleven ships into a floating fort. The Norse writers, who are the only authorities, gave all the credit to their own countrymen, and according to them all the intelligence of Olaf's enemies, and most of their valour, were to be found in Eric Hakonson. They say that the Danes and Swedes rushed at the front of Olaf's line without success. Eric Hakonson attacked the flank. His vessel, the " Iron Ram," was " bearded," that is to say, strengthened across the bows by bands of iron, and he forced her between the last and last but one of Olaf's line. In this way the Norse ships were carried one by one, till the " Long Serpent " alone was left. At last she too was overpowered. Olaf leapt into the sea holding his shield edgeways, so that he sank at once and the
weight
  of his hauberk dragged him down. A legend of later days has it thatat the last moment a sudden blaze of light surrounded the king, and when it cleared away he had disappeared. King Olaf is one of the same company as Charlemagne, King Arthur and Sebastian of Portugalthe legendary heroic figures in whose death the people would not believe, and whose return was looked for.
See the Heims-Kringla, in the Saga Library, trans. by W. Morris and E. Magm6sson (1893) and the Saga of King Olaf Tryggwason, trans. by J. Sephton (1895). (D. H.)


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