Page:The Heimskringla; or, Chronicle of the Kings of Norway Vol 3.djvu/394

 382 CHRONICLE OF THE NOTES, larger vessels now, but fewer sea-going men. She wants, like all the Continental countries, the basis of a naval power, — a numerous population engaged in coasting trade, fishing, and employment with small vessels ; and the very improvement of agriculture, roads, and means of living on land diminishes the employment of a seafaring coasting population with them ; while the very same improvement, from the shape of the country, diversity of products in diiFerent quarters of it, and the nature of our staple products, — coal, metals, and other heavy or bulky commodities, — increases the employment and numbers of a coasting seafaring population with us. When the employment of marauding on the coasts of other countries, the viking-trade, fell into disuse, there was no employment for a seafaring population in Denmark, in which, from the simi- larity of products over all, there is no constant demand in one quarter for what another quarter could spare. The vessels employed in these war expeditions must have been of a size to keep the sea, and stow the arms, water, and provisions of a considerable body of men. Ships of twenty benches of oars, — and we read of such belonging to bonders, — carried sixty men when in fighting equipment ; for we find from Erling Skakke's speech, in Chapter 6. of Hakon Herda- breid's Saga, that three men belonged to each oar — one to row, one to shoot, and one to cover those two with a shield. If we suppose the whole of the vessels of a levy to have averaged this size, about 51,000 men would be the number raised by a general levy. When we consider that this was a beneficial and favourite summer employment for the whole population between seed-time and harvest, interfering 'in no way with their usual occupations and habits, this number does not ap- pear extravagantly great ; but it is probable that by far the greater proportion of the vessels of a levy were not of a size to convey sixty men, with their bulky arms, missiles, provi- sions, and water, but were merely transports, or large half- decked boats. But such a class of vessels could scarcely have fewer than ten men to row them. If we allow half of the 850 vessels to have been of this class, and the other half fight- ing vessels with an average complement of sixty men, we find that about 30,000 men may have been raised by a general levy in the dominions of Swein or Canute. This force ap- pears inconsiderable ; but it is probable that long after the