When the Vikings landed, superior discipline, instilled into them by
their training on board ship, superior arms, the long two-handed sword
and the spear and battle-axe and their deadly bows and arrows, and
superior defensive armour, the long shield, the helmet and chain-mail,
would make them more than a match for their adversaries.[12] Above
all, the greater ferocity of these Northmen, ruthlessly directed to
its object by brains of the highest order, would render the Pictish
farmer, who had wife and children, and home and cattle and crops to
save, an easy prey to the Viking warrior bands, and the security of
his broch would of itself tend to a passive and inactive, rather than
an offensive, and therefore successful defence.
After long continued raids, the Vikings no doubt saw that much of the
land along the shore was fair and fertile compared with their own, and
finally they came not merely to plunder and depart, but to settle and
stay. When they did so, they came in large numbers and with organised
forces[13] and carefully prepared plans of campaign, and with great
reserves of weapons on board their ships; and having the ocean as
their highway, they could select their points of attack.
Pages:
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40