THE KAHFI. \\\\\ 



long-ship, ;i large bu/a which he owned ; ho manned it with 

 his huskarls, nearly eighty men " (St. Olaf, c. 14.'!). 



" King Harald (Hardradi) had a buza-ship built at Eyrar 

 during the winter. It was made as large as the long serpent, 

 and as good as could be in every way. It had a dragon's head 

 on its prow and a tail in its stern, and the beaks (svini) were 

 ornamented with gold all over. It had thirty-five rooms, was 

 large in proportion thereto, and very fine. The King was 

 very careful about its outfit, sails, rigging, anchors, and ropes" 

 (Harald Hardradi, c. 61). 



The Karji seems to have been a vessel of the size of a 

 skuta. 



"To Ketil of Hrinu-unes, King Olaf gave a fifteen-seated 

 karfi" (St. Olaf, c. 50)." 



"Thorfinn, who dwelt at Hamarsey, was the son of Kar the 

 old, who had long resided there ; he was a great chief. When 

 it got light the men were seen on the islet, and Thorfinn was 

 told of it. He quickly got ready and pushed out a karfi which 

 he owned ; twenty men rowed it on each side " (Uretti's Sa^a, 

 c. 20). 



" Bjorn and Thorolf had a karfi, the crew of which consisted 

 of nearly thirty men, twelve or thirteen rowing on each side. 

 They had acquired that ship in the summer on a Viking ex- 

 pedition. It was painted nearly everywhere above the water- 

 line, and was very handsome. When they came to Thorir they 

 were well received, and stayed there for a while ; the ship 

 floated, tented over in front of the farm. One day Thorolf and 

 Bjorn went down and saw that Eirik, the king's son, was there ; 

 he sometimes went out on the ship and was sometimes ashore. 

 As he stood looking at it, Bjorn said to Thorolf : ' The King's son 

 admires the ship very much, and thou must offer it to him, for 

 I think it will be a great help for us with the King if Eirik 

 pleads with him. I have heard that he is angry with theo mi 



account of thy father's deeds.' Thorolf thought this g 1 



advice ; they went down to the ship, and Thorolf said : ' Thou 

 lookest closely at the ship, King's son ; how dost thou like it ? ' 

 'Well,' he answered, 'the ship is very fine.' 'Then I will 

 give it to thee, if thou wilt accept it,' added Thorolf. ' I will,' 

 replied Eirik ; 'but thou wilt think the return is small, for 

 I can only promise thee my friendship ' ' (Egil's Saga, c. 30). 



Strange as it may seem, ironclad vessels which were used 

 as battering rams were known and used by the Vikings. At 

 the famous battle between Hakon Jarl and the Jomsvikings, 



