A critical survey of the vocabulary of Viking ships and their crews, of fleets and sailing and battles at sea, based on the runic and skaldic evidence from c.950-1100, and studied within the context of Viking activity in the period.

List of figures Acknowledgements Abbreviations Chapter One - Introduction: Rocks and Rhymes The Karlevi stone Runic inscriptions, skaldic verse and the late Viking Age Literacy and orality The runic corpus The skaldic corpus Verse in prose contexts Reconstructing viking verse The manuscript transmission Viking verse as a historical source Semantic study of skaldic verse and runic inscriptions Skaldic vocabulary in context Runes and semantics Comparative angles Sources and conventions Ships and men in the late Viking Age Chapter Two - Viking Activities Vikings vikingr viking Death and war 'He died' Battles and raids The fall of warriors Trade Pilgrimage Chapter Three - Viking Destinations 'East and west' The western route 'West' England Britain and Ireland Further west The European continent and further south Saxony and Frisia Brittany and points south Normandy and southern Italy Africa The eastern route 'East' The Baltic area Russia Byzantium and Jerusalem Ingvarr's expedition Serkland Scandinavia Hedeby Denmark to Sweden Two more towns Chapter Four - Ships and Sailing Words for 'ship' skip skeio snekkja dreki knorr Oak and pine Miscellaneous words Summary Names of ships The ship and its parts The hull The stems Inside the hull Rudders, oars and shields Masts, sails and rigging In harbour and on land The vocabulary of sailing Description and metaphor Preparing and launching The ship in the sea Shipwreck and landing Chapter Five - The Crew, the Fleet and Battles at Sea Manning a ship The owner The captain The crew The fleet and the troop lio Compounds with -lio floti leioangr The troop Units of the fleet Summary Battles at sea Maritime warfare Place and time Preliminaries to battle Bringing the ships together Attack and defence Victory and booty Not like leeks and ale Chapter Six - Group and Ethos in War and Trade The group and its vocabulary drengr felagi heimpegi huskarl gildi The ideology of battle 'He fled not' 'He fed eagles, ravens and wolves' The symbolism of battle: ravens and banners Murder and betrayal Kinds of killing Treachery Loyalty Treachery and politics Chapter Seven - Epilogue: Kings and Ships From vikings to kings Royal and other ships in the eleventh century After the Viking Age Conclusion Works Cited Appendix I - The Runic Corpus Appendix II - The Skaldic Corpus Index of Words and Names General Index