“The king and others perceived that silver had been stolen from them, so the king issued a proclamation that no ships were to sail as long as matters stood thus. This seemed to many a great disadvantage, as it was, to stay there longer than the fair lasted. Then the Norwegians had a meeting among themselves to take counsel. Thránd was at the meeting, and said: ‘The men here are very helpless.’ They asked: ‘Dost thou know a plan?’ ‘Certainly I do,’ he said. ‘Then give us thy advice,’ they said. ‘I will not do that gratuitously.’ They asked what he demanded, and he answered: ‘Every one of you shall give me one eyrir of silver.’ They said that was a great deal, but it was agreed that every man there should give him half an eyrir at once, and the other half if he was successful. The next day the king had a Thing, and said that the men should never go thence until this theft was discovered. Then a young man with long red hair, freckly and rather ugly of face, began to speak, and said: ‘The people here are rather helpless.’ The advice-givers of the king asked what advice he had to give. He answered: ‘It is my advice that every man here present give as much silver as the king demands, and when that is put into one place, then pay the loss of him who has suffered, and let the king have the rest as a gift of honour. I know that he will use well what he gets; let not people stay here weatherbound, such a multitude as here is assembled, to such a great disadvantage.’ The assembled quickly accepted this, and said they would willingly give silver to honour the king rather than stay there to their disadvantage. This plan was adopted, and the silver collected” (Færeyinga Saga, c. 3). The trading ships, with very few exceptions, were free from the attacks of the Vikings, as plundering a merchant vessel at sea seems to have been considered unmanly. They were unlike the war vessels which we have described, and the general name given to these Kaup-skip (trading ships) shows that the distinction was easily recognised. They were neither ornamented with dragons nor with shields, and the war pennant was missing. We find them mentioned under their different names—viz., Knörr, Kugg, Byrding (ship of burden), Vistabyrding (provision ships), and Haf-skip (deep-sea ship); there were also smaller or less important ones, among them even ferry-boats. Byrdings (ships of burden), the real cargo-carrying vessels, are frequently mentioned. “One day when Ásmund was rowing through a Sound, a byrding sailed towards them; it was easily recognised, for it was painted on the bows with white and red; the sail was striped” (St. Olaf, 132). Trade was considered a high calling. Even the sons of kings did not despise it; Harald Fairhair’s son Björn was a great Farman (seafarer) and Kaupman (trader, merchant).