The king says, "Thou must restore it all to the same condition as
before, or thy life shall pay for it."
Then Thorberg went and chipped the planks until the deep notches were
all smoothed and made even with the rest; and the king and all present
declared that the ship was much handsomer on the side of the hull which
Thorberg, had chipped, and bade him shape the other side in the same
way; and gave him great thanks for the improvement. Afterwards Thorberg
was the master builder of the ship until she was entirely finished.
The ship was a dragon, built after the one the king had captured
in Halogaland; but this ship was far larger, and more carefully put
together in all her parts. The king called this ship Serpent the Long,
and the other Serpent the Short. The long Serpent had thirty-four
benches for rowers. The head and the arched tail were both gilt, and the
bulwarks were as high as in sea-going ships. This ship was the best and
most costly ship ever made in Norway.