Fig. 922.
Fig. 923.
Fig. 924.—Specimens of Rowlocks from Gokstad ship. Boats (see Nydam boat, Vol. I.).
Fragments of three small boats made of oak were found on board the Gokstad ship, which apparently had been destroyed intentionally. They were clinker built, and had rowlocks, not two of which were alike, fastened to the gunwale instead of holes for the oars. These boats were so broken that no part could be put together again, except their keels, the longest of which measured over twenty-one feet, and the shortest twelve feet. Two had carried masts.
“They drifted north off Ireland, and the ship was broken into fragments on an unsettled island; while they were there Thorodd the Icelander met them as he sailed from Dublin. The men of the jarl called on the traders to help them. Thorodd had a boat put out and went in it himself” (Eyrbyggja Saga, c. 29).
The rudder, called styri, was on the right side, stjórnbordi (starboard); the opposite side being called bakbordi (larboard).
The helmsman, who held the tiller, was generally commander of the ship, and his position at the helm seems sometimes to have been below the rudder head, with a view to being protected from the continual shower of missiles to which he was subjected; the great purpose of the enemy being to disable the ship’s commander.