CHAPTER X. 



THE FLEETS OF THE NORTHMEN. 



Maritime power of the North Their huge fleets Good harbours Strate- 

 gical skill Size of some of their fleets Fleets accompanied by provision 

 ships. 



NOTHING can give us a greater insight into the maritime power 

 of the North than the accounts we read, here and there in the 

 Sagas, of the fleets gathered together for the purpose of war 

 and invasion. The number of the vessels is quite remarkable, 

 but seeing that the finds corroborate so much that is told us 

 in the Sagas, there is no reason to doubt the truthfulness of 

 their statements as regards the magnitude of the fleets, and 

 the vessels were far from being as small as have been 

 imagined. 



From the Sagas we learn that the aim of every chief was to 

 be powerful at sea ; every bondi was owner of one or more" 

 craft. They were born seamen, but were also trained to fight 

 on land. They surrounded themselves with warlike retainers, 

 and with these made distant expeditions to win honour and 

 booty. These men were also soldiers, and good horsemen. 

 As we see that in every great land battle the warriors came 

 from all parts of the Northern lands, it must be concluded 

 that the same took place in regard to their invasions of foreign 

 countries. Only in a very few instances have we accounts of 

 the Norsemen b % eing defeated at sea by the fleets of the 

 countries they attacked ; even in these rare instances their 

 combats took place with a very small number of vessels com- 

 pared with the powerful fleets of their enemies, who were either 

 Frisians or their own people who had settled in England. 



Fortunately, Fraukish and old English chronicles, which 

 are quite independent of those of the North, help to cor- 

 roborate the general truthfulness of the Eddas and Sagas, 

 and from them we have several accounts of the number of 



