146 WAR-SHIPS. 



" They drifted north off Ireland, and the ship was broken 

 into fragments on an unsettled island ; while they were there 

 Thorodd the Icelander met them as he sailed from Dublin. 

 The men of the jarl called on the traders to help them. 

 Thorodd had a boat put out and went in it himself" (Eyr- 

 byggja Saga, c. 29). 



The rudder, called styri, was on the right side, stjnrnbordi 

 (starboard) ; the opposite side being called bakbordi (larboard). 



The helmsman, who held the tiller, was generally commander 

 of the ship, and his position at the helm seems sometimes to 

 have been below the rudder head, with a view to being pro- 

 tected from the continual shower of missiles to which he was 

 subjected.; the great purpose of the enemy being to disable the 

 ship's commander. 



When Magnus Barefoot made warfare in Scotland and 

 Ireland : 



" Then men went between him and Melkolm (Malcolm) 

 Skota-king, and they made an agreement (treaty) between 

 themselves. Magnus was to become owner of all the islands 

 west of Scotland, between which and the mainland a ship with 

 its rudder on could go. When King Magnus came from the 

 south to Satiri (Cantire), he had a skuta dragged across the 

 isthmus (Mull of Oantire) with its rudder placed in position. 

 The king himself sat on the lypting and had hold of the 

 tiller, and thus got the land lying on the larboard. Satiri is 

 large and better than the best of the Hebrides except Mon. 

 A narrow neck of land joins it with the mainland, and long- 

 ships are often dragged across there " (Magnus Barefoot's 

 Saga, c. II). 1 



Tents. When the ship was lying still, especially for the 

 night, tents were stretched over it. Sometimes they were put 

 up on the shore, and in the latter case were taken on board 

 the ship when they sailed away. 



" When they came up on the islets, they saw a dragon-head, 

 which looked like gold. They saw that twelve ships were 

 there with the dragon, with black tents over them ; light was 

 under the tents ; men sat there drinking " (Svarfdaela, c. 4). 



" As soon as Karli came on board, he took down the tents, 



1 Cf. Orvar Odd, Hervara Saga, Harald Hardradi, 3'2 ; Olaf Tryggvason, c. 87. 



