Scandinavian-Britain

THE WICKING FLEETS 31The main peculiarities of the Norwegian wicldngship of the " iron age " may be summed up somewhatas follows, from the Gokstad ship, the latest andmost perfect. She was 67 feet long at keel, and 79^feet from stem to stern \of 1 7 feet beam, and about4 feet depth amidships ;clinker-built of eight strakesof solid oak planks fastened with tree-nails and ironbolts, and caulked with cord of cow hair plaited ;herplanks are fastened to the ribs with bast ties, whichgives the frame-work great elasticity. She is undecked(possibly there were lockers fore and aft),with movable bottom boards whereunder could bestowed ballast, stores, weapons, sails, spare spars andoars, and the like ;her mast was stepped in a hugesolid block, which is so cunningly supported that,while the mast stands steady and firm, there is nostrain on the light elastic frame of the ship. Heroars, sixteen a side, pass through rowlocks cut in themain strake (the third) and neatly fitted with shuttersagainst bad weather; the oars are twenty feet long,and beautifully shaped. Her rudder, stepped to thestarboard quarter, is a large short oar of cricket-batshape, fitted with a movable tiller, and fastened to theship by a curious but simple contrivance, giving theblade play, and keepingit clear of the ship's side.The mast, which is a 40- feet stick, has a heavy longyard with square sail, the stays and rigging are ofbast, the mast and yard when shipped lay on twocrutches clear of the deck the ; awning was of tentlikeform, of white web with red stripes, fitted withhemp cords by which it was seized 'to the ship's sides