racted
the attention of Britons across the seas. The careless glee with which
they seized either sword or oar and waged war with the stormy seas
for a scanty livelihood, raiding all the neighbouring coasts, had
earned them the name of Vikings or creek men. Their black-sailed ships
stood high out of the water, prow and stern ending in the head and
tail of some strange animal, while their long beards, their loose
shirts, and battleaxe made them conspicuous. "From the fury of the
Northmen save us, Lord," prayed those who had come in contact with
these Vikings.

In the ninth century they spring into fame as explorers by the discovery
of Iceland. It was in this wise. The chief of a band of pirates, one
Naddod, during a voyage to the Faroe Islands was driven by a storm
upon the eastern coast of an unknown land. Not a soul was to be seen.
He climbed a high mountain covered with snow and took a look round,
but though he could see far and wide, not a human being could he detect.
So he named it Snow-land and sailed home to relate his adventures.

A few years later another Viking, Gardar, bound for the west coast
of Scotland, was likewise blown by a storm on to the coast of Snow-land.
He sailed right round and found it to be an island. Considering that
it was unsafe to navigate the icy northern seas in winter, he built
himself a hut on the island, lived there till the spring, and returned
home. His account of the island fired the enthusiasm of an old Viking
called Floki, who sailed away, meaning to take possession of the newly
discovered country. At the Faroe Islands he let fly three ravens. The
first returned, the second came back to the ship, the third guided
the navigator to the island which he sought. He met a quantity of drift
ice about the northern part of the island and called it Ice-land, the
name it has borne ever since. But amid the Arctic ice he spent a desolate
winter; the island seemed full of lofty mountains covered with eternal
snow. His companions, however, were delighted with the climate and
the soil.

"Milk drops from every plant and butter from every twig," they said;
"this was a land where men might live free from the tyranny of kings."
Free, indeed, for the island was totally uninhabited.

[Illustration: A VIKING SHIP. A reconstruction (from Prof.
Montelius's book on Scandinavian archaeology) of an actual Viking ship
found, almost complete, at Gokstad, Norway.]

Iceland soon became a refuge for pirates a