The battlefield is distinguished by the fact that there is a small island, separated from the mainland by a narrow causeway at low tide. However as soon as the tides of the River Blackwater (called the Pante in the poem) rise, there is no access to or from the island. In the battle (if the poem is to be believed) the Vikings land on the island, and the English arrange themselves on the mainland. At some point the Vikings come across and the two armies engage. The size of the armies is disputable. The Parker version of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle suggests that the Vikings had 'þrim 7 hundnigentigon scipum' or 93 ships. If we accept this as true then their army would have contained between 2000 and 2500 men. Against this it is suggested that the men of Essex had about 600 warriors in the fyrd. The Viking army may also have contained Olaf Tryggvason, the most formidable Scandinavian warrior of the period. Regardless of the precise figures, one thing is certain: the English lost the battle.