"VIKINGS"
To the people they plundered and murdered, tbe Vikings were no better than pirates, and they certainly did seize many a ship on the high seas in their unexcel1ed "long ships," beginning in about the eighth century. Among the most fierce of them, according to the sagas, was Ragnar the Terrible, who was finally caught by the English and flung into a pit of poisonous snakes. Ragnar showed no weakness; in fact he sang Viking songs until he died, except for his last words: "The little pigs would grunt now if they knew how it fared with the old boar. When the little pigs (his four sons) did learn of his fate, they reacted in typical Viking fashion. Tracking down their father's executioner, they took thier vengeance by binding him and tearing his lungs out of his body while he lived.
"HANDY JONES"
One of the oddest of pirates flourished off Long Island, New York's South Shore in the 1780s. No one knew his real name, but his name was derived from his sadistic modus operandi, according to a story in the long-defunct Long Island Forum. Handy's specialty was to stowaway on one-man fishing boats. Waiting until a craft was well out at sea, he'd sneak up behind her captain and push him overboard. As soon as the captain bobbed up in the water and reached for the boat rail, Handy would chop his hand off with the trusty axe he always carried. He'd then sail over to Connecticut and sell the pirated boat, leaving the skipper to drown.
The murderous Handy Jones met his end when a sharp-eyed skipper glimpsed him sneaking aboard his sloop. The captain happened to be the brother of one of Handy's victims, and on recognizing the pirate he decided to have his revenge. He pretended not to see Handy, and when the pirate rushed him out at sea, he stepped to the side and pushed him overboard. When Handy grabbed the rail, he chopped off his hand and sailed back to port, leaving the pirate to drown as his victims had.
