ir.i// 



in:; 



turn, and be carried on a manned ship both l>y night and l>\ 

 day (i.e., never stop) along the high road (on the sea). Those 

 who drop that arrow are to be outlaws. A wooden arrow shall 

 go into the fjords from the high road, and be carried with 

 witnesses, and each man shall carry it on to the other. The 

 one who drops it must pay a fine of three marks. When 

 it comes where a woman lives alone, she must procure ships 

 and food and men if she can. But if she cannot, the arrow 

 shall be carried onwards. Every man in whose house the 

 arrow comes is summoned within five days on board a ship. 

 If any one sits quiet he v is outlawed, for both thegn and thrall 

 shall 'go " l (Earlier Gulathing Law, c. 312). 



" When news came to Einar Thambarskelfir about King 

 Olaf's journey, he at once took a war-arrow and sent it in four 

 directions, summoning thegn and thrall with full war-dress to 

 come and defend the country against the king. The arrow 

 summons went to Orkadal, and then to Gaulardal, and all 

 the host gathered together " 2 (St. Olaf's Saga, c. 37). 



Every warrior went to battle combed and washed, and after 

 having eaten well. 



There were peace and war shields, the former white and the 

 latter red ; when the first was hoisted on a ship it was a sign 

 for a cessation of the conflict, while the appearance of the 

 later on the masthead, or in the midst of a body of men, was 

 a sign of hostility. Another sign was the throwing of a spear 

 or shooting of an arrow over the host. The battles always 

 began bv the blowing of the horns. The horn seems to have 



C7 v 



been the earliest instrument known. No horns belonging to 

 the iron age have been found, though so often mentioned in 

 the Sagas, from which we must suppose that, unlike those of 

 the bronze age, they were of wood. 



When the Yolsuiigs approached to attack the sons of 

 Huudiiig with their fleet, and neared the shores, and were 

 asked what they came for, 



tj * 



Sinfjotli replied 

 Hoisted up to the yard 



A red shield ; 

 The rim was of ;j;<>ld. 

 (Helgakvida Hundingsbana, i. 33.) 



Their standards stood by the leaders, and were protected by 



1 Cf. also Flateyjarbok, ii., p. 188. 

 - Cf. also Olaf Tryggvason, i.. p. 207 



(Fins.); St. Olaf (Heiuiskriugla), c. 118. 



