King Harald’s Saga begins Harald being wounded in the Battle of Stiklestad where his brother King Olaf was killed and himself wounded. After his wounds were tended by a farmer he was able to escape with several other fugitives. Knowing he couldn’t remain in Norway he traveled to Sweden where he met Earl Rognvald Brusason some of King Olaf’s men who had also escaped the battle. They acquired ships in the spring and set sail for that summer east towards Russia. Viking long boats were for known being slim and could travel in the sea as well as t upriver in shallow water as low as four-feet. They were powered by oarsmen and by the wind while out at sea. If they were landlocked and needed to reach a body of water the ships were so light they could
