DIVISIONS OF A fiii ii'. 17:; 



"When spring- came, and snow and ice thawed, Thorolf had 

 a large longshij) which lie owned launched, and made ready 

 and manned with more than 100 (120) of huskarls ; they were 

 very fine and well-armed warriors, \\hen a fair wind came he 

 sailed southward along the coast. . . . No one knew about 

 Thorolf' s journey. He had fair winds southward to Denmark, 

 and then to Atistrveg (East of Baltic) ; he ravaged there that 

 summer, but got little property. In the autumn he went back 

 to Denmark when the Eyrarfloti (the trading-fleet of Eyrar- 

 sund) was leaving. That summer many ships from Norway 

 had been there as usual " (Egil's Saga, c 19). 1 



The division between each rower's bench was called room 

 (nun), and this was subdivided into half-rooms, in which many 

 of the combatants were stationed : hence the fighting strength 

 of a ship, as well as its si/e, was known by the number of its 

 rooms or benches. 



On expeditions, when the men were landed to fight, we 

 generally find that one-third of the crew remained on board 

 to guard the ship. This is corroborated by the Prankish 

 chronicles, which mention that the Northmen arrived before 

 Paris with seven hundred large ships, besides smaller ones, 

 and landed forty thousand men. The Long Serpent had thirty- 

 four rooms; eight men were m each half room, or sixteen in 

 each room, making five hundred and forty-four. Then thirty 

 men were in the foreroom, thus making five hundred and 

 seventy-four. We have also the warriors in the prows, fore- 

 castle, and other parts of the ship, making in all probably 

 seven hundred men. 



From the laws we find that people could refuse to sail on 

 unseaworthy ships. 



" The ship which has to be baled three times in two days is 

 reckoned, according to the right Bjarkey-rett, to be unsea- 

 worthy, unless the crew like to run the risk " (Bjarkey 

 Law, 170). 



The following is the only detailed description of a storm at 

 sea in the Sagas ; it was encountered by Fridthjof on his way 

 to the Orkneys. There are many references to ships being 

 lost at sea, and their crews drowned. 



1 (T. also Egil's Snga, c. 55, 72 ; St. Olaf, 148 ; Fagrskiuiw, 4'J. 



