CHAPTER V. 



BEING a sea-wolf, and living among sea-wolves, the 

 mediaeval Northman was controlled by wolf law, which 

 compelled him to keep his powers, offensive and defensive, 

 in the best possible order, lest he should be eaten. For, 

 when there was no quarry at hand for the common pack, 

 its members fell one upon another and the Danes harried 

 the Saxons, and the Swedes worried the Finns, and the 

 Norwegians came upon any and all of them ; and conse- 

 quently, as this fighting was done chiefly at sea, that nation 

 which had the strongest navy for the time being, at least, 

 was paramount. Therefore, to the building and mainte- 

 nance of ships everything else was subordinate, and even 

 the lands were divided so as to secure the largest possible 

 contribution of vessels, or the greatest tax levy for their 

 support. In the beginning, the galleys were small, and the 

 seven hundred of them which made up the fleet of Hakon 

 and Harald Bluetooth were little more than canoes ; but 

 they grew apace in size until in the nth century, the Long 

 Serpent of King Olaf Tryggvason went into action against 

 the ships of Norway, Denmark and Sweden, with thirty- 

 four banks of rowers beating the water into foam at her 

 sides. And, in that same battle of the Svold, Eirik, Jarl of 

 Norway had a vessel with beaks on both stem and stern, 

 and covered at her bow with great iron plates which 

 reached to the water. 



As larger ships were built, the wonderful energy of the 

 Northmen found a new outlet in overcoming the dangers 

 and hardships of long voyages, even unto regions wherein 

 seamen had never before penetrated; and their trading craft 

 went not merely into the Mediterranean, but to Greenland 

 and along the American coast. The northern Sagas may, 



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