PREHISTORIC NAVAL ARCHITECTURE. 633 



It is built of oak of an inli-bliie color aucl of such a degree of liardiiess 

 tliat it required great exertious to break it up; it is klinlverbuilt, the 

 planks being li inches thick; the ribs are notched and the planks fas- 

 tened to them with wooden nails of 1 inch thickness and with iron nails 

 of 4 inches length. The iron nails had corroded away, only leaving a 

 black powder and the holes connected by them. The wooden nails 

 are in a good state of preservation; tliey are of oak, juniper, and birch 

 trees of one year's growth, as indicated by the wood. The present 

 wooden nails, made of pine, only last ten years. The caulking is done 

 by means of cords twisted of the black hair of elk, bear, or other wild 

 animal, saturated with tar that scented of amber. 



It is pointed at both ends and its greatest width is one-third of the 

 length. The stem-post was moderately rounded off; the stern-post 

 straight. No trace was found of a fixed rudder. The Ijottom is iiat 

 with exceptien of the hollow groove towards the keel. The execution 

 is exceedingly rougli, and smootli cuts of the saw nor traces of the plane 

 are nowhere noticeable; even the planks appear to have been split in- 

 stead of sawed. '^ 



Lcry of ships. — For the service of the king the country was divided 

 into ship levy districts {sMpreida), each of which had to build, equip, and 

 man a certain number of ships of specified order, carrying not less than 

 twenty nor more than thirty pairs of oars. Upon the declaration of war 

 tlie War Arrow was sent to summon the warriors to tlieir posts. The 

 sending of the war arrow had to be performed quickly and the ancient 

 law provides' that ^' when a man carries war news he shall raise an iron 

 arrow at the end of the land. Tiie arrow shall go with the lendir man 

 and be carried on a manned ship both by night and by day along the high 

 road (the sea). Those who drop the arrow are to be outlawed. A 

 wooden arrow shall go into the i;jords from the high road and be carried 

 with witness, and each man shall carry it on to the other. The one 

 who drops it must \)Sby a fine of 3 marks. When it comes where a 

 woman lives alone she must procure shi])s, and food, and men, if she 

 can. But if she can not, the arrow shall be carried onwards. Every 

 man in whose house the arrow comes is summoned within five days on 

 board a ship. If anyone remains quiet he is outlawed, for both thegn 

 and thrall shall go." 



Levies are mentioned in many sagas ^ and the ships thus brought 

 together, strengthened by the numbers of vessels belonging to individ- 

 uals,-' formed large fleets of whose visits to foreign shores the Saxon, 

 Frankish, and English chronicles recount many instances. 



'Earlier Gulathinj;: law, c. 312 and 301. 



^OlafTrygvasoii Saga, c. 15, 17, 38, 40, 107; Hakoii the Good Saga, c. 3,23; Harald 

 Hai-drade Saga, c. 31, 33, 34, 40, 4G, 50, 53, 54, 83; Hakoii Grayskie Saga, c. 12; Olaf 

 Kyrre Saga, c. 108; Magnus Barefoot Saga, c. 5, 8, 16; Sigurd the Crusaders Saga, 

 c. 16, 27. 



^In the battle of FriBdarl)erg KingHakon the Good had 9 ships and Eric's sous had 

 20 (Hakon the Good Saga, c. 24). Gold Harald sailed witli !) ships; Earl Hakon 

 (Sigurd's son) had 12 large sliips (Olaf Trygvasou Saga, c. 12). King Harald Gormon 



