"What is this!" roared the king, making the earth tremble with the force of his cry. "Have I taken you this far only to be told my ships are too big?"
"It is not my fault your ships are too big," Njord answered petulantly.
If ever a man stood on sinking sand, Njord was that man; yet, he seemed oblivious to the danger he faced at that moment. "If you had asked me," the pilot sniffed, "I would have told you."
"Is there anything which you will yet tell me?" wondered the king, his voice menacing and low. I could almost hear the knife sliding from its sheath.
Njord pursed his lips and stared at the water with an expression of deep inscrutability. "If the mountain is too tall to climb," he pronounced suddenly, "then you must go around." Turning to the king, he said, "Since you ask my advice, I tell you the ships must be carried."
The king gaped at him in disbelief.
"Impossible!" cried Thorkel, unable to contain himself any longer. He thrust himself forward to appeal to the king. "Strike his worthless head from his shoulders and be done with him. I will do the deed gladly."
Njord's frown deepened. "If this is how you would repay the best advice you will hear the whole length of this river, then give me my part of the reward now and I will be gone from your sight."
"No," said the king firmly, "you will stay. The ships are here, little thanks to you. Now it is for you to earn your silver and get them safely across the cataract, for that is what you agreed to do. Fail in this and you will have the reward you deserve."
Emboldened by these words, the slight pilot stirred himself from his indolence and began ordering the preparation of the boats. "Stand you aside," he said, "and watch well what I shall do."
As before, the ships were emptied. Then Njord began to display the acumen for which he was acclaimed, but of which we had heretofore seen so little demonstration. He ordered the oars to be removed and the masts struck. He commanded tall fir trees to be cut from the forest and trimmed of all branches; other trees were cut to use as levers. Then the empty hulls were pulled from the river and dragged with ropes over the bank on the round logs.
It must be said that, once begun, Njord warmed to his task and acquitted himself well. He seemed always to know just the right place where a lever would be needed, and could foresee difficulties before they arose and took steps to overcome them, or at least mitigate their severity. By day's end we had one ship beyond the rapids and another half way along.
That night we camped on the bank and commenced again the next morning in a chill rain which began at daybreak. The rain made the task more difficult, for the paths grew muddy and the men's feet slipped, and the wet poles were difficult to grip. However, the remaining vessels were smaller than the king's longship, and could be moved more quickly and with somewhat less effort. Night found us with the last two ships more than half way along the dry course. At dawn the Patzinaks attacked.
King Harald was the first to perceive the danger, and it was his bull roar which roused the work-weary Danemen from their sleep. If not for this, I have no doubt we would have been slaughtered where we lay. Up we rose as one man, spears in hand-for raiding Sea Wolves always sleep with a weapon ready, especially when on land.
The Patzinaks were small and dark and shrewd, striking with quick, furious thrusts of their wide-bladed spears and axes before darting away again. All the dodging and feinting made them hard to hit. This frustrated the Sea Wolves, who much preferred a foe to stand his ground and trade blow for blow. The Patzinaks had encountered Danemen before, however, and had learned best how to deal with a more powerful opponent.
Harald saw how they meant to wear down his men, or perhaps through frustration to draw them into a fatal blunder, so he signalled his men to retreat to the ships and make their stand on the riverbank. There, with backs to the solid oak hulls, they stood to face the feisty Patzinaks.
When the foemen saw that the Sea Wolves would no longer be drawn into the open, they soon lost interest in pursuing the fight further. But, far from discouraged, they simply changed their stratagem; retreating a short way off, they held council and elected an envoy to proceed under the sign of the willow branch.
As the envoy approached, the king motioned me to him. "We will speak to them, you and I," he said. "Though I think we will hear little to our liking."
When the Patzinak party had come within fifty paces, they halted and waited for us. The king, ten of his house karlar, and myself went out to meet them. The king, frowning mightily, scanned the ranks of foemen, sharp disdain furrowing his brow and making his lip curl.
