Don't you remember what happened when your father called him 'niddering' last year because Olaf said it was not just to attack the ship of those British men who had been driven to our coast by weather, meaning us no harm ?" "Aye," answered Ragnar.

"He leapt among them all alone as soon as our boat touched her side, and felled the steersman.

Then the British men shouted out that they would not kill so brave a lad, and threw him into the sea.

It cost us that ship, since by the time we had picked him up she had put about and hoisted her large sail.

Oh, Olaf is brave enough, we all know that! Still, he ought to have been born a woman or a priest of Freya who only offers flowers.