Hrafn-Floki was sitting on board the Seamaiden, hugging the wooden carved mermaid-prow at the front of the viking longship when his leidang started to arrive. Floki the Shipbuilder had wasted no time in hand picking the 500 hrafnfylking who would be traveling with him on his adventures. He divided them up evenly on to 5 different longships, placing 100 sailors on to each ship. Besides the large Seamaiden, he also hand-picked four other longships called the Sjorulfur, the Sjohestur, the Waveraider and the Hafskongur to go as his fleet. These five viking longships looked very similar, apart from their prows. The Seamaiden had a mermaid or valkyrie-type prow. The Sjorulfur had a wolf-headed prow. The Sjohestur had a horse-headed prow. The Waveraider had a simple spiralling or swirling prow design typical of the Jellinge style, while the Hafskongur had a Dall horned sheep or ram-headed prow. All of them had square-shaped crimson red sails which bore a picture of the black raven in tribal knot-work design, a symbol that was by now firmly associated with Nordic vikings from the northern fjords.
Soon other vikings would arrive from the mainland, hoping for a chance to sail with Hrafn-Floki and join in on his adventures. 50 ulfhednar, 50 berserkar, 50 svinfylking, 50 hestahar, 50 kattrfylking, 50 hornuglar, 50 ljosalfar, 50 svartalfar and 100 thralls would all be chosen to join Floki the Vitki on his quest to Siv'en, and he divided them all accordingly, placing all 1000 of his vikings into one of the 5 distinguished ships. The remaining 500 hrafnfylking would stay at the docks and continue to do as they had always done, building and repairing boats at the shipyard, fishing the harbour and working close to the water. Angradi the Whaler was chosen by Hrafn-Floki to be the new commander of the hrafnfylking at the docks, and was appointed to oversee the shipyard's navy.
Without further delay, the rowers divided themselves on each of the longships, with 75 oarsmen on each side. Hrafn-Floki took his place on the raised platform at the front of the Seamaiden, and picked up the ivory curved horn, blowing into it. The sound of the horn was carried for miles. Floki then leaned over the side of the ship to kiss his wife Helga one last time as she placed a garland of holly on his head like a crown. Helga and the other housewives waved their husbands goodbye and watched quietly as the 5 longships slowly rowed away from the docks and headed out towards deeper waters. They knew it might be weeks, months or even possibly years before Hrafn-Floki's leidang returned to Iskjerne Bay, if they ever returned at all.
Soon other vikings would arrive from the mainland, hoping for a chance to sail with Hrafn-Floki and join in on his adventures. 50 ulfhednar, 50 berserkar, 50 svinfylking, 50 hestahar, 50 kattrfylking, 50 hornuglar, 50 ljosalfar, 50 svartalfar and 100 thralls would all be chosen to join Floki the Vitki on his quest to Siv'en, and he divided them all accordingly, placing all 1000 of his vikings into one of the 5 distinguished ships. The remaining 500 hrafnfylking would stay at the docks and continue to do as they had always done, building and repairing boats at the shipyard, fishing the harbour and working close to the water. Angradi the Whaler was chosen by Hrafn-Floki to be the new commander of the hrafnfylking at the docks, and was appointed to oversee the shipyard's navy.
Without further delay, the rowers divided themselves on each of the longships, with 75 oarsmen on each side. Hrafn-Floki took his place on the raised platform at the front of the Seamaiden, and picked up the ivory curved horn, blowing into it. The sound of the horn was carried for miles. Floki then leaned over the side of the ship to kiss his wife Helga one last time as she placed a garland of holly on his head like a crown. Helga and the other housewives waved their husbands goodbye and watched quietly as the 5 longships slowly rowed away from the docks and headed out towards deeper waters. They knew it might be weeks, months or even possibly years before Hrafn-Floki's leidang returned to Iskjerne Bay, if they ever returned at all.