color the long ships 
The Battle of Maldon took place three weeks before Whitsun on 10 ( possibly 11 ) August 991 CE near Maldon beside the River Blackwater in Essex , England , during the reign of Æthelred the Unready . Earl Byrhtnoth and his thegns led the English against a Viking invasion . The battle ended in an Anglo - Saxon defeat . After the battle Archbishop Sigeric of Canterbury and the aldermen of the south - western provinces advised King Æthelred to buy off the Vikings rather than continue the armed struggle . The result was a payment of 10 , 000 Roman pounds ( 3 , 300 kg ) of ___MASK20___ , the first example of Danegeld in England . The Long Ships or ___MASK60___ Orm ( original Swedish : Röde Orm meaning " ___MASK60___ Serpent " or " ___MASK60___ Snake ") is an adventure novel by the Swedish writer Frans G . Bengtsson . The narrative is set in the late 10th century and follows the adventures of the Viking Röde Orm - ___MASK60___ Serpent , - called " ___MASK60___ " for his hair and his temper , a native of Scania . The book portrays the political situation of Europe in the later Viking Age , Andalusia under Almanzor , Denmark under Harald Bluetooth , followed by the struggle between Eric the Victorious and Sweyn Forkbeard , Ireland under Brian Boru , England under Ethelred the Unready , and the Battle of Maldon , all before the backdrop of the gradual Christianisation of Scandinavia , contrasting the pragmatic Norse pagan outlook with the exclusiveness of Islam and Christianity . The Long Ships is a 1964 British - Yugoslavian adventure film shot in Technirama directed by Jack Cardiff and stars Richard Widmark , Sidney Poitier , and Russ Tamblyn . Russell Irving " Russ " Tamblyn ( born December 30 , 1934 ) is an American film and television actor and dancer , who is best known for his performance in the title role of the 1958 " Tom Thumb " and the 1961 movie musical " West Side Story " as Riff , the leader of the Jets gang . He is also known for appearing in such films as " Seven Brides For Seven Brothers ", " The War of the Gargantuas ", " Peyton Place " and " The Haunting ", as well as for his portrayal of Dr . Lawrence Jacoby in the television drama " Twin Peaks ". The film tells the story of two giant , hairy humanoids called Frankensteins ( Gargantuas in the American version ) that were spawned from the discarded cells of Frankenstein ' s monster from the previous film . A ___MASK85___ one raised in the sea named is violent and savage , while a ___MASK53___ one who resides in the Japan Alps , named is friendly and docile . The film follows the investigation and military engagements of these creatures until their climactic confrontation in Tokyo . Seven Brides for Seven Brothers is a 1954 musical film , photographed in Ansco ___MASK34___ in the CinemaScope format . The film was directed by Stanley Donen , with music by Saul Chaplin and Gene de Paul , lyrics by Johnny Mercer , and choreography by Michael Kidd . The screenplay , by Albert Hackett , Frances Goodrich , and Dorothy Kingsley , is based on the short story " The Sobbin ' Women ", by Stephen Vincent Benét , which was based in turn on the Ancient Roman legend of The Rape of the Sabine Women . " Seven Brides for Seven Brothers ", which is set in Oregon in 1850 , is particularly known for Kidd ' s unusual choreography , which makes dance numbers out of such mundane frontier pursuits as chopping wood and raising a barn . Film critic Stephanie Zacharek has called the barn - raising sequence in " Seven Brides " " one of the most rousing dance numbers ever put on screen ."