with the loss of many a man. So says Guttorm Sindre:—
"The king's voice waked the silent host
Who slept beside the wild sea-coast,
And bade the song of spear and sword
Over the battle plain he heard.
Where heroes' shields the loudest rang,
Where loudest was the sword-blade's clang,
By the sea-shore at Kormt Sound,
Hakon felled Guttorm to the ground."
Now King Hakon returned to his ships, and pursued Gunhild's sons.[1] A And both parties sailed all they could sail, until they came to Easter Agder[2], from whence Eric's sons set out to sea, and southwards for Jutland. Guttorm Sindre speaks of it in his song:—
"And Guttorm's brothers too, who know
So skilfully to bend the bow,
The conquering hand must also feel
Of Hakon, god of the bright steel,—
The sun-god, whose bright rays, that dart
Flame-like, are swords that pierce the heart.
Well I remember how the King
Hakon, the battle's life and spring,
O'er the wide ocean cleared away
Eric's brave sons. They durst not stay,
But round their ships' sides hung their shields,
And fled across the blue sea-fields."
King Hakon returned then northwards to Norway, but Eric's sons remained a long time in Denmark.
Chapter XXI.
King Hakon's laws.
King Hakon after this battle made a law, that all inhabited land over the whole country along the seacoast, and as far back from it as the salmon swims up in the rivers, should be divided into ship-raths according to the districts; and it was fixed by law how many ships there should be from each district, and how great each should be, when the whole people were called out on service. For this outfit the whole
