Out in the mid bay the king's six longships lay at anchor, with their sails furled and their high gunwales set with shields from prow to stern.
The larger number belonged to King Sweyn; but the longships of Earl Erik were in all respects superior to those of either Denmark or Sweden.
When Olaf entered the mouth of the fiord with his five longships and anchored off Agdaness, he heard that Earl Hakon was lying with his ships farther up the firth, and also that he was at strife with the bonders.
Then, as the stem of one of the Danish longships crashed into his vessel's stern, he dropped his longbow and caught up his spears, one in either hand, and hurled them into the midst of his clamouring foes.
When at length he stood out across the Skager Rack, he had a fleet of sixty longships and sixty smaller transports, and with these in his wake he sailed south along Denmark through the Eyr sound, and so to Wendland.
He encountered them with four of his best longshipsagainst their two.
There he divided his forces, leaving twenty of Olaf Triggvison's longships in the firth, so that they might perchance intercept Earl Hakon should he escape the main fleet.
His four longships had not joined in the contest, because it was always considered unfair to oppose an adversary with unequal force.
There was a very fine harbour or dock made within the Burgh, in which three hundred longships could lie at the same time, all being locked within the strongly built walls of granite with their massive gates of iron.
By this time the viking ship had again come within bow shot of him, and his four longships had appeared in sight from behind the headland of one of the islands.
It was customary in such battles for ship to fight against ship and man against man; but in most cases Hakon, whose forces greatly outnumbered those of his enemies, placed three of his longships against one of the vikings'.
And now, taking the lead, he arrayed his ships in order, with the Short Serpent and the Crane together in his immediate wake, and his eight otherlongships following close behind.
The wind shifting against us, we had a good view of the Wolf Rock, and afterwards of the Longships Lighthouse, the white tower of which, rising above its black base, can be seen afar off.
The men said that when they saw the Longships they fancied that it was the Eddystone, and that when they struck they supposed that they were not far off Plymouth Breakwater, though they were wondering why they did not see the light.
We could see through our glasses the Longships Lighthouse on one side and the light-vessel on the other, while the Scilly Islands rose blue and indistinct out of the ocean.
A strong current was setting us in the direction of the Longships light, which now appeared broad on the starboard bow.
Two miles off Land's End, on a mass of rocks which rise some seventy feet above the surface at low water, stands the Longships Lighthouse, the summit of which is fifty-six feet above the rock.
When we were all a-boun we set sail with five longships and about four hundred men, and fared away to Denmark, where we forayed and fought a great battle with the inhabitants.
Lucky it is that my longships are at hand just now ready loaded with stones:-- "`O!
Meanwhile, Jarl Rongvold, go thou with Rolf, and bring round the Dragon and the other longships to the fiord, for I mistrust the men of this district, and will fare to the Springs by sea.
His longships were crowded with picked men, and war vessels of all sizes--from little boats to dragons with thirty banks of rowers--augmented his fleet.
But, if thou wouldst prove thyself a real friend, go, get thy longships ready with all speed, for we fare south a few days hence, and there will be work for the weapons of stout men ere long.
The fleet that left the fiord consisted of the longships of Ulf, Haldor, Erling, Glumm, and Guttorm, besides an innumerable flotilla of smaller crafts and boats.
The two longships ranged up on either side of us, shortening sail to keep us company.
Now as the longships were cleared for the weapon play, Olaf wondered how the Danes should have had word of our coming, for it was plain that this fleet of ten ships was waiting for us.
He knew that one who had not been there could not possibly have any idea of the awful noise on the Longships Rock occasioned by the roaring and the raging of the waves in the caverns underneath.
We can also thus distinguish the Longships from the revolving light of Saint Agnes, on the southern rocks of Scilly.
Now you see it is hidden, but it will appear again in another minute, whereas the Longships light is fixed and is always visible.
The night was so clear that he saw the Longships light nearly all the time, till they came to the cliff near the Land's End, to the best of his judgment.
About a mile from the cliffs stands the rocky little islet of Carn Brâs, whereon is situated the Longships lighthouse.
Far out, far beyond where the Longshipslighthouse blinks its warning light over the waste of waters, a solitary ship goes down into the western horizon; and the golden clouds of summer follow her, one by one, into the bosom of the night.
Are you so fond of the longships and the restless waves that you will not be bound to the shore?
Then one or two longships from among them struck sail and cleared for action, and on these swooped Alfred's great ships.
The Longships is a reef composed of several rocky islets, some of which are connected by bridges and in fine weather the men can walk about and even fish, but in rough weather the great doors in the tower are closed for days together.
The bright ruby spot is the Longships Light on a grisly reef so near that it looks as if you could throw a stone upon it, though really two miles away.
Half-a-dozen longships of other jarls happened to be in port at the time and Jarl Sigurd was not sorry to let his visitors see what his young people could do.
Then Jarl Swend laughed as he looked at Sigurd, and said, "Truly, it is not for nothing that men call thee Sigurd the Wise; now I see why the young men who sail their longships from your vik are luckier than other men.
Even as Fulrad spoke, the oars of the longships rattled inboard, and the five beautiful craft glided toward the bank.
When they came sailing back down the Garonne from Toulouse, the missi found the five longships of the Norse fleet lying moored at Bordeaux, all newly refitted and scraped and painted, in readiness for the voyage north.
So the longships were hauled from their sheds, and raced away up Rhine Stream, through the fair Rhinegau and past Mayence, on along the winding streams to Worms.
Close in the Dane's wake the three longships of the outer estuary came gliding over the water in swift pursuit.
Be certain I would not risk King Sigfrid's longships thus far south without sure gain.
Hardly was the word uttered when from all five longships the armed crews poured overboard and swarmed up the shore like a storming party.
How thelongships would fly, winged by the bowing oars of your merry sea-wolves!
And in ten days' time Cyneward came to me saying that there were two longships coming in from the open sea.
The longships came up to Norwich time after time now; and there had been but one thought among us, and that was that our place could not have escaped the destruction that had fallen on all the shore and riverside villages.
Well we know those wondrous lines now, for they were those of the longships of the vikings.
We came easily to Reedham, and very strange it was to me to see two Danish longships lying in our roads, while our own shore boats were alongside, the men talking idly together on deck or over gunwale in all friendliness.
The Longships lighthouse is about a mile and a half out at sea, but such is the deceptive purity of the atmosphere that, to a Londoner, it looks less than half that distance.
It is a melancholy history, and that and the weird noises made by the sea in caverns under the reef make the Longships one of the least desirable of berths at the disposal of the Trinity House.
Round the westward point crept two longships under their broad, brown sails, making for our haven.
So the two pirate longships overhauled us fast, and presently their low, black hulls were plain to us.
The ship swayed gently to the dying swell, and the sail flapped idly against the mast, while ever we looked to see the longships of Heidrek coming in the offing in search of us.
It commands a magnificent view, extending to Cape Cornwall over Whitesand Bay, of the Longships rocks with their lighthouse, and in clear weather of the Scilly Isles.
Illustration: The Longships Lighthouse] The coast of Cornwall is remarkably free of shoals.
We stood silent and spell-bound, for beyond the Longships Lighthouse was the setting sun, which we watched intently as it slowly disappeared behind some black rocks in the far distance.
The above list will hopefully give you a few useful examples demonstrating the appropriate usage of "longships" in a variety of sentences. We hope that you will now be able to make sentences using this word.
