While these early efforts at pictorial representation are frequently associated with runic inscriptions and incidental to them, such is not always the case. The Northern countries possess a number of "pictured rocks," on which the picture is the chief and often the only matter of importance. As many of these belong to the heathen period, the themes are often mythological or suggestive of warfare: the coming of the fallen warrior to Walhalla on the Tjängvide Stone[430]; viking ships on the Stenkyrka Stone. The comparatively new sport of hawking is represented on a stone at Alstad in Southern Norway.[431] Themes from the heroic age seem to have attained an early popularity: especially do we find frequent pictorial allusions to the story of Wayland Smith and the adventures of the wonderful Sigfried. With Christianity came a wealth of new subjects that could be used in artistic efforts. One of Canute's contemporaries, the Norwegian woman Gunvor, raised (about 1050) a memorial rock bearing a series of pictures from the story of Christ's nativity.[432] The work rarely shows much originality on the part of the artist, though frequently a surprising skill is displayed—surprising when the time and materials are taken into consideration. Many of the pictures are clearly copied from Western, perhaps Anglo-Saxon originals; in some instances the workman was evidently reproducing the embroidered figures on imported tapestries. The Sigfried pictures on the Ramsund rock in Southern Sweden seem to be of this type.[433] But even though the art of the viking age does not testify to much creative imagination, it serves to prove that the men whom we think of as mere pirates were not wholly wanting in æsthetic sense.
Evidence of a cultivated taste is also seen in the large number of rich and elegant articles of personal adornment in the form of rings, necklaces, brooches, and the like that have come to light from time to time. It was long thought that these all represented plunder or purchase from other lands; but recent opinion seems inclined to regard the larger part of them as articles of native manufacture.[434] If this be correct, they reveal considerable skill in the finer industrial arts and also suggest that certain forms of industry must have formed an important factor in the economic life of the people.
The archæologist has unearthed many varieties of jewelry, but the written sources tell chiefly of rings, doubtless because of their ancient use for monetary purposes. Even in the days of Canute, the ring, especially the large arm-ring, was commonly used in rewarding the kingsmen. Saint Olaf once stroked the arm of a henchman above the elbow to determine whether Canute had bribed him.[435] Canute's officials procured the allegiance of Björn, Saint Olaf's spokesman, for English silver and two heavy gold rings.[436] Canute's ring gift to Sighvat has been noted elsewhere; Bersi, the poet's companion, received "a mark or more and a keen sword."[437]
Northern industrial art of the later heathen age found its best and highest expression in the shipbuilder's trade. Merchant ships as well as ships for warfare were built, but the builder's pride was the ship that the King sailed when he sought the enemy. The ships that bore Canute's warriors to England were no doubt mainly of the so-called long ship type, a form that was developed during the second half of the tenth century. The long ship was built on the same general plan as the dragon ship of the century before, of which type we have a remarkably well-preserved example in the ship that was found in a burial-mound at Gokstad near Sandefjord in Southern Norway. The Gokstad ship is nearly eighty feet long from stem to stern, and a little less than one fourth as wide. The builders of the long ship increased the length of the dragon, but did not increase the width proportionally. Oak timbers and iron rivets were the materials used. It is likely that by the close of the viking age the shipbuilder's art was as highly developed in the North as anywhere else in Christian Europe.
The long ship was built with pointed prow and stern. The gunwales generally ran parallel to the water line, but in the prow the timbers curved sharply upward to join the stern, which projected above the body of the ship and frequently terminated in some carved image like those described by the Encomiast.[438] The stern was built in much the same fashion. The ribs were supported and held in place by strong cross-beams, which also served as supports for the deck. In the fore-end the deck was high; here stood the stem-men, the best warriors on board. From a similarly raised deck in the stern, the chief directed the movements of the ship and the men when battle was joined. But in the middle portion of the ship the deck was low; here the oarsmen sat, each on a chest containing his clothes and other belongings. The number of pairs of oars would usually indicate the size of the ship; fifteen or twenty pairs were the rule; but larger ships were sometimes built: the Long Serpent had thirty-four pairs. A rudder or "steering board" was fastened to the after-part of the vessel, on the side that has since been known as starboard.
The long ship was also equipped with a mast and a sail. The mast was planted amidships, but in such a way that it could be lowered when not in use. The sails were generally made of coarse woollen stuff; they often bore stripes, blue, red, or green, and such striped sails were counted highly ornamental. The ship was painted and the gunwales frequently hung with shields, alternately yellow and red. An awning was provided to protect the vessel from rain and sunshine.[439] The average long ship had, perhaps, eighty or ninety men on board, the oarsmen included. The number varied, of course, with the size of the ship: The Long Serpent is said to have had a crew of three hundred men.[440]