[1] The raid was a huge success for the Norwegian crusaders, facing low casualties.

There had been multiple military successes before this such as the Siege of Lisbon and the Raid on Santiago de Compostela.

[citation needed] According to the Heimskringla Sigurd lowered several ships with four men in front of an inaccessible rock slab on Formentera to drive out a group of so-called "heathen bluemen" (North African Muslims) who had entrenched themselves there.

The Norwegian archers and stone throwers, who were protected inside these boats, successfully forced the Saracens to retreat from the defensive wall and into the cave.

[3] Once they breached the wall, the Christians gathered large pieces of wood near the entrance of the cave, set them on fire, and suffocated or burned the people inside.