1068-1089) Thus he spake, and the helpful device pleased all.

And on their heads they placed helmets of bronze, gleaming terribly, and the blood-red crests were tossing.

And half of them rowed in turn, and the rest covered the ship with spears and shields.

And as when a man roofs over a house with tiles, to be an ornament of his home and a defence against rain, and one the fits firmly into another, each after each; so they roofed over the ship with their shields, locking them together.

And as a din arises from a warrior-host of men sweeping on, when lines of battle meet, such a shout rose upward from the ship into the air.