Even in Alfred the Great’s time (A.D. 900) the seas and lands of Scandinavia were but very little known to the Anglo-Saxons; for which reason Alfred, chiefly with a view to trade and commerce, sent Ulfsten and the Norwegian Ottar on voyages of discovery to the Baltic, and along the coast of Norway to the White Sea. That according to the laws of his country an Anglo-Saxon merchant obtained the rank and title of Thane, or Chief, when he had thrice crossed the sea in his own ship, sufficiently attests how desirous the Anglo-Saxon kings were to awaken among their subjects, by means of large rewards, a desire for such voyages. Subsequently, however, during the expeditions of the Vikings and Normans, when the dangers attending long voyages had become still greater than before for the Anglo-Saxons, owing to the perfectly overwhelming force of the Northmen at sea, the trade, with Scandinavia at least, must have continued to remain in the hands of the Scandinavian merchants; who, as we learn from the Sagas, were continually making voyages, as well from Denmark, Sweden, and Norway, as from the still more distant Iceland, to England, and the other countries of the West. Wherever the Normans had won new settlements, Scandinavian merchants likewise established themselves in order to maintain a steady connection with their ancient home. It is for this simple reason that we find in those times so many Danes and Norwegians settled in the most important trading places, not only in England (in London, Southwark, Derby, Grimsby, York, Whitby, and other towns), but also, as we shall see in the sequel, in Ireland and in Normandy, where the city of “Ruda,” or Rouen, is spoken of as an important place of trade often visited by the Northmen.