THE VIKING SHIP AS IT WAS FOUND
Other treasures have been dug from the earth in Sweden too. One old chest had in it many queer things. One object from that old chest which interests Swedish girls and boys is a large gold ring with eight small rings upon it. Those rings of gold had been used for money long ago before people made coins. In those early days a man buying something would break off a piece of gold from one of the rings to pay for his purchase.
Tales of the Old Sea Kings
A long black boat, floating a red flag with a large black raven upon it, glided through the fjords and out to the open sea. At its prow stood a dragon’s head; at its stern was the animal’s tail. Along its sides, which looked like the body of a huge beast, were rows of big round shields painted red, black, and white. Behind those shields, on each side of the long boat, sheltered from the sprays of water, sat forty men who rowed the boat.
So the old ship of the sea kings which now stands in the museum had glided in the long, long ago.
Those old kings of the seas who sailed such boats are sometimes called Vikings. They got that name from the waterways which are now called fjords, but which were called viks in the early days. The Northmen who kept their boats along the viks were called Vikings.
Nearly every Northman in those early days had a boat. They needed boats to go about on the fjords, but they also loved the open sea and sailed out upon it. Finding the material with which to make a boat was an easy task, for many great trees grew on the mountainsides of their lands.
Some of the ships that sailed on the seas reached the shores of other lands. In those lands the Vikings saw shining gold and silver and sharp weapons of bronze. The Northmen had no such treasures in their land. After hearing about such riches, the Vikings were not content without them. Some of the braver ones said, “We will sail our boats to those lands and take the rich treasures for ourselves.”