27S A. D. 978-1016. 



A council held by the wife men of England and the counfelors of 

 Wales, for regulating- the intercourfc between the two nations, during 

 this reign as is fuppofed, fcarcely deferves notice in commercial hiftory. 

 By it fix Englifh and fix Welfh law-men (or men fkilled in the law) 

 were appointed to fettle all difputes between individuals of the two na- 

 tions ; and the rates of compenfation for flaves, cattle, &c. were afcer- 

 tained. {Lninbanli Archoiommia, f. 90, ed. 1568.] 



996-1 000 — Olaf Trygvafon, having by his piratical expeditions acquir- 

 ed fome knowlege of the produdions and the wants of various countries, 

 after his acceffion to the crown of Norway endeavoured to encourage 

 commerce in his own country. With this view he founded Nidaros 

 (i. e. Nid's motith), and appointed it to be an emporium for trade, as 

 it ftill remains under the name of Drontheim. {Snorro^ Hiji. Olafi Tryg. 

 c. 77.] 



King Olaf went beyond all his predeceflbrs in his attention to mari- 

 time affairs ; and he built fome fhips of war larger than had ever been 

 feen iti the northern feas. One of thefe, called the Dreki (or Dragon), 

 was feventy-four elns * by the keel ; fhe had thirty-four benches for the 

 rowers ; her fides are faid to have been as lofty as thofe of fhips of bur- 

 then ; and her head and ftern were finely adorned with carving and 

 gilding by an artift, whofe name was Thorberg Skaff hog. 



The battles of the northern nations were moft frequently fought up- 

 on the water. Their warlike fhips, or gallies, were long, narrow, and. 

 low ; and they were adorned with figure heads, the ule of which ap- 

 pears to have come down from the earlieft ages. Befides fwords, bows 

 and arrows, and pikes, they took onboard a quantity of ftones to throw 

 into their enemy's veflels. A parapet, or breafl-work, compofed of 

 fiiields, was fet up around the fides of the fhips f. Like the antient 

 naval combatants of the Mediterranean, they drove the beaks of their 

 gallies by the force of the oars againfl; the fides of the enemy, and the 

 battle was fupported chiefly on the fore part of the deck. It was a great 

 object to have the heads and flerns lofty for the fake of pouring dowTi 

 flones, darts, &c. on the enemy's deck. They generally endeavoured 

 to grapple their enemy, and board him. Sometimes by mutual confent 

 the hoflile fliips were bound to each other, and the men fought hand to 

 hand, till one of the fifips was overpowered. [Snorro, HiJl. Olafi T'ryg. 

 cc. 124-128 ; liyi. Olafi Sa?i8i, c. 47 ; HiJl. Haraldi Hardrad, c. 2. — l'o?fa:i 

 O trades, L. i, cc. 14, 22, 39.J 



That foreign articles of elegant drefs and ornament were not un- 



* The tin of Norway is equal to a foot and a fiircd I 1 1 feet, which is equal to the length of our 

 Ivalf of our moafurc, as 1 was informed by Do6tor larjje modeiri frigates of 32 or 36 guns. 

 Tliorkelln, the learned l:ecper of the Danifli royal f The (liicldc, &e. foniotiiiieB now painted upon 



h'brary. The keel of the Dragon therefor mea- the quartcr-cl'.iilis, Icein to be a vcftige or memo- 

 rial of this ciillom. 



