fleets total is believed to have numbered around twenty six compared to Sverre's fleet of about 14. However, none of Magnus's ships were as massive as the Mariusud, which was Sverre's flagship. The Mariusud was a particularly high-sided ship with about 30 benches on board. At this time it was one of the largest warships constructed in Norway, and because of its great size the seaworthiness of the Mariusud was rather poor making it only useful within narrow fjords. As the battle commenced, Sverre was alerted by watchmen that king Magnus and his royal fleet were approaching from the mouth of the fjord. Recognizing the impending battle he sent for his other two ships that were further down the fjord, and prepared his men for battle. On both sides of the battle each party prepared by placing bulwarks on the sides of their ships, donning armor, and preparing ranged weapons such as throwing rocks and bows and arrows. However, on Magnus's side of the battle one final preparation was made that would prove to be his downfall. Keeping with tradition, king Magnus lashed together a considerable amount of his ships creating a massive connected fleet. The first ships engaged were between the Mariusud and Magnus's ships which were lashed together. Although the numbers were with Magnus's fleet, due to the size of the Mariusud and it being turned horizontally most of the lashed together royal fleet was caught on the Mariusud leaving them immobile. Recognizing this, Sverre left the Mariusud to join the rest of his ships and begin attacking the remainder of Magnus's outlying ships which were not lashed together. As Sverre battled with the unconnected outlying ships, a man by the name of Eirik Siguròsson attacked the outermost ship that was lashed together. After attacking the outermost ship, he began slowly taking ship by ship and hopping from one to another until the remaining ships became extremely crammed and started to go down because of the weight onboard. At the end of the battle Sverre Sigurdsson was left victorious and king Magnus V was reported to have either drowned because of the weight of his armor or to have gone down on one of the last of his ships. Aftermath After Magnus' death, Sverre became the sole sovereign of Norway and was considered to be a model king. His natural ability to rule coupled with the new ideas