This commercial movement began to gather strength during the quiet decades of the tenth century but it must have progressed rapidly during the peaceful reign of Canute. From Novgorod in Russia to Bristol and Limerick in the British Isles the ships of the North sailed every summer laden with the products of all Northern Europe: furs from Norway and Russia; the teeth of the walrus from the Arctic waters; cured fish from the Scandinavian seas; honey from the Baltic shores; Norwegian hawks for the English sportsmen; and numerous other products. In return for these the Northmen received the luxuries of the South, especially wine, wheat, and silk; but numerous thralls were also imported, particularly from the Celtic lands.[411]
These foreign products were chiefly consumed in the homes of the Scandinavian aristocracy. In material comforts the Northmen were probably not far behind the corresponding classes elsewhere in Europe. When the god Righ came to the chieftain's house,
Then the housewife thought of her arms, Smoothened her linen, pleated her sleeves. Broad was her headgear, a brooch on her breast; She wore trailing sashes and a blue-dyed sark.
When her son was born, "she swaddled him in silk"; and when her daughter-in-law came to the hall as a bride, "she walked under the veil of fine linen."[412] The sudden consciousness of rare finery was not limited to the women; rich and highly coloured clothing also delighted the men.
The influence of alien culture was also shown in the entertainment provided for the visiting god:
Then took Mother a markèd[413] cover Of bleached linen and laid upon the board. Next she laid out the thinnest loaves Of wheaten flour on the white cover. She set the table with silver-mounted dishes Heaped with roasted birds and ham. The wine brightened the mounted beakers. They drank and talked till the day was done.[414]
"The Lay of Righ" was composed, it is believed, in the days of Canute's grandfather; but the civilisation that it describes was not new; even a century earlier the ruling classes in the North had reached a high stage of culture, as we know from the large number of articles indicating a refined and cultivated taste that were found when the Oseberg ship was discovered and excavated a few years ago.[415]