“Thorstein asked his father to tell him of a Viking with whom he might fight, and either fall or gain some fame. His father answered: ‘Ljot, the pale, is east in the Svía-skerries (Swedish islets); he has fifteen ships, and a dragon covered with iron above the sea; it sails through every ship; he calls it Jarnbardi’” (Svarfdæla, c. 4).
“Thorstein (father of Fridthjof) had a ship called Ellidi; fifteen men rowed on each side of it. It had a carved prow and stern, and it was strong like a seagoing ship, and its sides were sheathed with iron” (Fridthjof’s Saga, c. 1).
The smaller and most easily managed ships of the Northmen were called Askar.
“Arngrim’s sons drew their swords and bit in the shield-brims (borders); then they turned to the ships, and six men went up on each Ask”[[128]] (Hervarar Saga, c. 5).
Some ships were specially built for speed. Among them we find long ships—skeid and skuta. The fast-sailing skutas were called lettiskuta (light skuta), and hleypiskuta (running ships), a kind of yacht.
“Eyvind went quickly with a few men on a lettiskuta” (Olaf Tryggvason, c. 83).
“Geirmund went with a hleypiskuta and some men with him” (Olaf Tryggvason, c. 41).[[129]]
The Knerrir (sing. Knorr) or merchant vessels must sometimes have been large, and were occasionally used as war or transport vessels. We infer from the Sagas that they could stand heavy seas better than the long ships.
“King Olaf left behind in England the longships, and went thence with two Knerrir, on which he had 220 picked men, fully armed” (St. Olaf’s Saga, c. 27).
“Sigmund told Hakon Jarl that he wanted to leave off warfare and go to the Faroes; he said he no longer wished to hear that he had not avenged his father and be upbraided for it; he asked the Jarl to aid him, and advise him how to manage it. Hakon answered that the sea to the islands was hard to cross, and the breakers strong; ‘you cannot go on longships thither, but I will have two knerrir made for you, and get a crew to man them’” (Fœreyinga Saga, c. 23).