EXPEDITIONS. 177 



vessels which sailed up the Seine, the Rhine, the Elbe, and 

 the Weser, or went to England. 



The largest fleet that ever met in the North was that which 

 assembled for the battle of Bravoll ; though the number of 

 vessels is not mentioned, we read that the Sound was covered 

 with vessels. This fleet reached from Kjoge to Skanor, so that, 

 if the account is trustworthy, people could walk as on a bridge 

 from Zeeland over the Sound, a distance of some twenty miles. 

 Sigurd Hring had 2,500 (3,000) ships to oppose him. 1 



The maritime expeditions of the Northmen to distant lauds 

 were undertaken with a great deal of care and foresight ; 

 the men were under strict discipline, and were attired with 

 the greatest splendour. It would be a mistaken idea to think 

 that the Northmen started on these voyages without any 

 previous knowledge of the country they were to invade, or of 

 the shores where they were going to land, or that they sailed 

 with no definite object. Their previous knowledge of these far- 

 off lands was no doubt gained in trading, and it was only after 

 being thoroughly well acquainted with the geography of the 

 part to be attacked that they ventured on their invasion. 



Many of the places in foreign countries mentioned in the 

 Sagas where the Norse fleets were safely moored and sheltered 

 against storm, are to this day good harbours, and if others 

 are no longer so it is because the shores of those coasts have 

 been subjected to changes which are still taking place. The 

 geographical positions of the rivers they ascended were well 

 chosen ; they knew what size of vessel to take there, and 

 though their operations seemed to be detached, we find that 

 their fleets were in communication with each other, and that 

 their armies could assist one another in case of need, crush 

 the enemy between the rivers they had ascended, or between 

 them and the sea. In a word, their tactics showed considerable 

 boldness and strategical skill, which generally left them a 

 way of retreat, if necessary, to their vessels or to some island. 

 Though the Sagas give us a good and vivid idea of the Norse 

 mode of warfare at sea, they are very incomplete in regard to 

 the description and details of the land expeditions, and we have 



1 See p. 4.!7. 

 VOL. 11. N 



