ABSTRACT
The early Viking vessels probably carried from sixty to a hundred men—only the larger constructions of the tenth century could contain as many as two hundred. During the later years of Charles, the favourite sphere of activity of the Vikings was Ireland, where, from 807 onward, they were making sad havoc of the whole coast-line, and harrying one by one the rich monasteries which lay along its bays and islands. The landmarks of the period are the first serious invasion of the interior of Ireland by a great host under Thorgils, and the erection of the first fortified Viking winter-camp on the island of Noirmoutier. Among the faction-ridden tribes of Ireland it was hopeless to look for union or skilfully-combined resistance. The Vikings were too well-armed, too wary, too experienced in every shift of war, to be adequately faced by the raw militia opposed to them.
