Slings and stones thrown.—Stone-throwing was an important means of attack. Stones were sometimes thrown by hand, but oftener with slings, particularly in sea-fights, and the art was brought to great perfection. Slings were also used on land by bodies of men who had no other weapons.[[101]] The stone-throwers are mentioned as occupying the flanks in King Hedin’s army; and the slingers stood in the last ranks of King Hring’s order of battle on Brávalla heath.

As heavy stones could not be thrown any great distance by mere muscular strength, machines were employed, called Valslöngva.

The chief Sturla Sighvatsson was attacking his enemies, who defended themselves inside a high wall.

“Sturla walked about outside, and took a stone; he threw stones better than any man, and usually hit the mark. He said: ‘It seems to me if I wished to throw a stone, that I, rather than you, would choose where it should hit; but I will not try it now,’ and he then threw down the stone” (Sturlunga, v., ch. 17).

“Búi (the son of Andrid, in Brautarholt) would never carry any weapon but a sling, which he always wore tied round him. Búi was outlawed because he did not want to sacrifice. Once when he was on a journey, Thorstein, a son of the chief Thorgrim, attacked him with eleven men. Búi had come to a hill called Kleberg, where he saw them pursuing him; he stopped and gathered some stones. Thorstein and his men went fast, and when they had passed a brook which was there, they heard the sling of Búi whistle and a stone flew; it struck the breast of one of Thorstein’s men and killed him. Búi sent more stones, and hit a man with each one. By this time Thorstein had almost come up to him; Búi retreated down the hill on the other side” (Kjalnesinga Saga, ch. 3).

Defensive weapons.—The shield, the form of which, as we see from the finds, was always round, and somewhat convex. Almost all shields were probably covered with leather. They were of wood, the boards surrounded on the rim by a ring of metal, sometimes of gold, and they were braced and furnished with a boss and handle of iron or bronze. Many were painted in different colours, or richly ornamented, and sometimes covered with gold.

Many figurative names were given to them:—

The sun of the battle.

The moon of the battle.

The sun of Odin.