What were the names of the Viking ships? Mast and sail

24.11.2023

Drakkars are the name of ships that were used by the Vikings in combat. The Vikings also made knorrs - trading ships. An interesting fact is that already at that time ships could serve as housing - they could be pulled ashore thanks to a powerful keel and, secured, equipped as a temporary (and, sometimes, permanent) home. The answer to the question of what the bow of a ship is called is the stem.

Today, many, like the ancient Vikings, use yachts as temporary housing - on the road or during stops in port. This is possible thanks to the high level of shipbuilding in Croatia. The yacht has all the amenities and the layout of the premises is no different from an apartment - with the exception of the soothing sound of the waves overboard.

The answer to the question of what the Viking ships were called is: longship and knorr. The history of shipping says that initially the Vikings built oared ships, but then, due to the general development of the fleet, they began to use a sail. For a long time, brave warriors used both oars and sails, depending on the wind or other factors, changing the way the ship would be propelled. Over time, the Vikings completely switched to sails, abandoning oars. Depending on the name of the Viking ship, we can say for what purposes it was used.

Why the Vikings were considered the best shipbuilders of their time

Trading ships gave people access to other shores and, consequently, to the acquisition of new, previously inaccessible goods and the sale of their own. Of course, merchant ships are rarely not filled with valuables, food or jewelry, as a result of which piracy develops. To protect wealth from robbery, the construction of warships begins, which are designed to protect merchant ships. The answer to the question of what the front part of the ship is called is the tank.

At the same time, warships were used to conquer new territories, as well as in naval battles during the war. A powerful fleet was often the deciding factor in who would win a war. The Vikings had such a fleet. The left side of the ship is called the backside.

In addition to trading ships and warships, the Vikings also built ships for everyday use, such as:

ferries - for transporting people and goods by sea from one part of the land to another;
kayaks - for river crossings;
fishing boats - for catching fish and other sea creatures.

The answer to the question of what the left side of the ship is called is the backboard.

For what reason was shipbuilding the most developed by the Vikings?

Due to the geographical location of Scandinavia, in these parts during Viking times it was very difficult to travel through impenetrable forests, mountains and deep snow. Thus, the most convenient way to travel was by sea. The answer to the question of what the rudder of a ship is called is, of course, the steering wheel.

Of course, it is not smart not to take advantage of one’s own advantage, which is why the Vikings actively built warships and used them to conquer new lands, resources and labor.

Currently, ships are mostly used for travel and transporting goods, but of course all countries that have access to the sea or ocean have a naval fleet of warships.

Interestingly, Viking warships were also called “dragon ships.”

They differed in the following characteristics:

capacity;
beauty;
rapidity;
light weight, allowing the vessel to be carried by hand;
reliability.

Perhaps the main secret of the Vikings, which ensured the victory of this extremely intelligent people in most battles, is that their ships were designed in such a way as to make it possible to enter shallow rivers and berth on flat banks. So, the Vikings could attack unexpectedly, which is already a big advantage.

As soon as they were not called - Vikings, Varangians, people of the sea, pagan monsters. Detachments of these extremely brave, hardy and cruel warriors on small fast ships made rapid raids on the coastal cities of England, France, Spain, Portugal, and Italy, causing death and destruction everywhere.

Later Vikings crossed the Caspian Sea and reached Baghdad, and the pirate and navigator Eric the Red in 1000 - almost 500 years earlier - reached the shores of North America and founded a settlement in the north of Newfoundland. The Normans inspired terror - all of Europe and Asia trembled before them.

viking age

Vikings appeared in Scandinavia in the mid-8th century AD. e. in villages and hamlets located on the seashore and along rivers. They were mostly fair-haired Scandinavians. But the word “Viking” is a non-ethnic term and does not indicate nationality. Were Vikings Slavic and Irish. In those days in northern Europe, Vikings were all people who led a certain way of life. It is impossible to name the place and time of the emergence of the Viking community. There were quite a few places suitable for settlement in Scandinavia, but there were differences between them. This is evidenced by the language, construction method and rituals.

viking village

People inhabited the coast for a thousand kilometers, so navigation was familiar to them long before the Viking Age. The abundance of fish contributed to the emergence of numerous settlements. Women played an important role in society. While their husbands went to sea, they were entrusted with running the household. Peasant farms fully provided themselves with everything they needed, so families had many children. The boys had to help with the housework, but each of them dreamed that he, too, could soon go to work. Viking adventures.

viking expedition

Since the summer in Norway was short, the Vikings had to store quite a lot of food to survive the long winter. Fish and seal meat were dried, salted and stored in wooden barrels. Despite the workload, the Vikings were not alien to the sense of beauty. For example, beads made of multi-colored glass were very much valued by the Scandinavians and they were ready to go to the ends of the earth for them. It was a very expensive decoration. The beads were passed down from generation to generation. They were hunted during raids. By the number of gold clasps one could judge the rank of their owner. Beads were a symbol of social status.

Worship Viking gods implied regular sacrifices. One of the rituals was infanticide. If a woman's first child was a girl, she was taken from her mother and taken out of viking villages and left to die. A lot of men died in military campaigns, and in this way the demographic situation was regulated, maintaining the proportions of the male population.

They turned to other gods for strength and well-being. The ritual ceremonies were led by the elder. Once every 9 years, the bloodiest ritual was performed, which was called “fornication.” Nine different creatures, including humans, were sacrificed, and the headless bodies were hung in the forest on one tree. IN Viking ship the chosen ones were buried. Along with the body they put everything that they might need in the afterlife.

viking ships

Almost all Viking villages there were shipyards. The art of shipbuilding has been perfected over the centuries. The Vikings managed to create a ship that changed the course of history. Throughout northern Europe, Viking ships were built according to a single model - from planks fastened with rivets. Thanks to these rivets, the Viking ship was strong and flexible.

Viking ship construction

viking ships

Viking World concealed many secrets of mastery that are now forgotten. The main tool for building a ship was an axe, and the material was wood. During the Viking Age, shipbuilding was a real profession. The shipbuilders searched the forests for trees with natural curves that would fit the contours of the hull of the ship they were going to build. Detail Viking ships hewn out so that the wood fibers running along the part follow all the curves. The boards were hewn from a tree trunk, and the frames were made from crooked branches. Oak was considered the best material, but often one had to be content with pine. Not a single dozen people had to do construction for several years.

Viking ship built from special boards. To make them, the tree trunk was split lengthwise using a wedge-shaped wooden beam. Only one board 3 cm thick was cut from each trunk. The boards had much greater strength and flexibility than modern ones. Viking shipbuilders did not have drawings; they built based on their own memory. The secrets of mastery were passed on from father to son. To ensure water resistance, the gaps between the boards were treated with tarred wool and tow. Frame viking ship from boards fixed with overlap, the so-called “ clinker» technology provided greater flexibility of the longitudinal axis. This technology has become the main achievement of the Vikings, it has been used for thousands of years and is preserved in the traditions of other peoples of northern Europe and America.

viking warship

The rigid structure could be broken by waves, but viking ships were flexible like a dolphin. This is the secret of the Viking ships. The principle is approximately the same by which ocean yachts are built today. Even with a full load, the ship's draft is shallow and it glides along the surface of the water with almost no resistance. Under sail, Viking ships barely touched the water and became fast. The speed reached 20 knots.

The Vikings were proud of their ships. There were 15-20 pairs of oars along the sides, and a mast with a single rectangular sail was installed in the center. The Vikings invented reef-seasons; with the help of such devices, in stormy weather, the area of the sails can be reduced.

types of Viking ships

There were several, each of them corresponded to its purpose. The Vikings most often went on long voyages on drakars - an elongated shallow-draft vessel with one limb symmetrically curved upward, one of which was decorated with a carved dragon's head, designed to cause terror in the enemy.

viking ship drakar

Drakar is a warship up to 30 m in length under sail and oars, the crew of which consisted of 60 - 80 people. Each member of the warship's crew carried weapons and equipment with them and was ready to engage in battle. To increase the stability of the vessel, ballast was placed on the bottom. On such ships, the brave ones made their trips to England, France, Spain, the Mediterranean countries, Greenland and reached the shores of North America.

The ship drakkar became a kind of calling card of the Viking era. It was a long, roomy, shallow-draft, universal-class ship propelled by sail and oars. The word "drakkar" is of Norwegian origin and etymologically goes back to the Old Norse language, where "drage" literally meant "dragon" and the word "kar" can be translated as "ship". In Old Norse and a number of Germanic languages, the Viking longship is also called "langskip", which means "long ship". In European languages, there is a wide range of names for ships of this type - from “dreka” to “draka”.

Structurally, the Viking drakkar is a developed version of the snekkar (from the Old Norse “snekkar”, where “snekja” means “snake” and “kar”, respectively, “ship”). The snekkar was smaller and more maneuverable than the longship, and in turn was descended from the knorr (the etymology of the Norwegian word "knörr" is unclear), a small cargo ship that was notable for its low speed (up to 10 knots). However, Eric the Red discovered Greenland not on a longship, but on a knorr.

The dimensions of the drakkar are variable. The average length of such a ship was from 10 to 19 meters (35 to 60 feet, respectively), although ships of greater length could presumably exist. These were universal ships; they were used not only in military operations. They were often used for trade and transportation of goods; they traveled longer distances (not only on the open sea, but also along rivers). This is one of the main features of longship ships - the shallow draft made it possible to easily maneuver in shallow water.

Drakkars allowed the Scandinavians to discover the British Isles (including Iceland) and reach the shores of Greenland and North America. In particular, the American continent was discovered by the Viking Leif Eriksson, nicknamed “Happy.” The exact date of his arrival in Vinland (as Leif called probably modern Newfoundland) is unknown, but it certainly happened before the year 1000. Such an epic journey, crowned with success in every sense, speaks better than any characteristics that the drakkar model was an extremely successful engineering solution.

Drakkar design, its capabilities and symbolism

It is believed that the drakkar (you can see pictures of the reconstruction of the ship below), being a “dragon ship,” invariably had a carved head of the desired mythical creature on its keel. But this is a misconception. The design of the Viking longship actually implies a high keel and an equally high stern with a relatively low side height. However, it was not always the dragon that was placed on the keel; moreover, this element was mobile.

The wooden statue of a mythical creature on the keel of the ship indicated, first of all, the status of its owner. The larger and more spectacular the structure, the higher the social position of the ship's captain. At the same time, when the Viking longship sailed to its native shores or the lands of the allies, the “dragon head” was removed from the keel. The Scandinavians believed that in this way they could scare the “good spirits” and bring trouble to their lands. If the captain longed for peace, the place of the head was taken by a shield, turned towards the shore with the inner side on which was printed white cloth (a kind of analogue of the later “white flag” symbol).

The Viking drakkar (photos of reconstructions and archaeological finds are presented below) was equipped with two rows of oars (one row on each side) and a wide sail on a single mast, that is, the main thing was the oar stroke. The drakkar was steered by a traditional steering oar, to which a transverse tiller (special lever) was attached, located on the right side of the high stern. The ship could develop a speed of up to 12 knots, and in an era when an adequate sailing fleet did not yet exist, this figure rightly inspired respect. At the same time, the drakkar was quite maneuverable, which, combined with its shallow draft, allowed it to easily move along fjords, hide in gorges and enter even the shallowest rivers.

Another design feature of such models has already been mentioned - the low side. This engineering move, apparently, had a purely military application, because precisely because of the low side of the drakkar it was difficult to distinguish on the water, especially at dusk and even more so at night. This gave the Vikings the opportunity to get almost close to the shore before the ship was noticed. The dragon's head on the keel had a special function in this regard. It is known that during the landing in Northumbria (Lindisfarne Island, 793), wooden dragons on the keels of Viking longships made a truly indelible impression on the monks of the local monastery. The monks considered this “God’s punishment” and fled in fear. There are not isolated cases when even soldiers in forts left their posts at the sight of “sea monsters.”

Usually such a ship had from 15 to 30 pairs of oars. However, the ship of Olaf Tryggvason (the famous Norwegian king), launched in 1000 and called the “Great Serpent,” supposedly had as many as three and a half dozen pairs of oars! Moreover, each oar had a length of up to 6 meters. During the journey, the crew of a Viking longship rarely consisted of more than 100 people, in the vast majority of cases - much less. Moreover, each warrior in the team had his own bench, where he rested and under which he stored personal belongings. But during military campaigns, the size of the drakkar allowed it to accommodate up to 150 soldiers without a significant loss in maneuver and speed.

The mast was 10-12 meters high and was removable, that is, if necessary, it could be quickly removed and laid along the side. This was usually done during a raid to increase the ship's mobility. And here the low sides and shallow draft of the ship came into play again. The drakkar could come close to the shore and the warriors very quickly went ashore, deploying positions. That is why the Scandinavian raids were always lightning fast. It is known that there were many models of longships with original accessories. In particular, the famous “Queen Matilda Carpet”, on which the fleet of William I the Conqueror was embroidered, as well as the “Bayenne Linen” depict longships with spectacular shiny tin weathervanes, brightly striped sails and decorated masts.

In the Scandinavian tradition, it is customary to give names to a wide variety of objects (from swords to chain mail), and ships were no exception in this regard. From the sagas we know the following names of ships: “Sea Serpent”, “Lion of the Waves”, “Horse of the Wind”. These epic “nicknames” show the influence of the traditional Scandinavian poetic device - kenning.

Typology and drawings of drakkars, archaeological finds

The classification of Viking ships is quite arbitrary, since, of course, no actual drawings of longships have survived. However, there is quite an extensive archeology, for example - the Gokstad ship (also known as the Gokstad longship). It was found in 1880 in Vestfold, in a mound near Sandefjord. The vessel dates back to the 9th century and presumably this type of Scandinavian vessel was most often used for funeral rites.

The ship from Gokstad is 23 meters long and 5.1 meters wide, with a rowing oar length of 5.5 meters. That is, objectively, the Gokstad ship is quite large, it clearly belonged to a headwing or a jarl, and perhaps even a king. The ship has one mast and a large sail made of several vertical stripes. The drakkar model has elegant contours, the vessel is entirely made of oak and is equipped with rich ornaments. Today the ship is exhibited at the Viking Ship Museum (Oslo).

It is curious that the longship from Gokstad was reconstructed in 1893 (it was called “Viking”). 12 Norwegians built an exact copy of the Gokstad ship and even sailed across the ocean on it, reaching the shores of the United States and landing in Chicago. As a result, the ship was able to accelerate to 10 knots, which is actually an excellent indicator even for traditional ships of the “era of sailing fleet”.

In 1904, another Viking longship was discovered in the already mentioned Vestfold, near Tønsberg; today it is known as the Oseberg ship and is also exhibited in the Oslo Museum. Based on extensive research, archaeologists have concluded that the Oseberg ship was built in 820 and participated in cargo and military operations until 834, after which the ship was used in funeral rites. The drawing of the drakkar could look like this: 21.6 meters in length, 5.1 meters in width, the height of the mast is unknown (presumably ranging from 6 to 10 meters). The sail area of the Oseberg ship could be up to 90 square meters, the probable speed was at least 10 knots. The bow and stern sections have magnificent carvings of animals. Based on the internal dimensions of the drakkar and its “decoration” (primarily referring to the presence of 15 barrels, which were often used by the Vikings as clothing chests), it is assumed that the ship had at least 30 oarsmen (but larger numbers are quite likely).

The Oseberg ship belongs to the auger class. An auger or simply an auger (the etymology of the word is unknown) is a type of Viking drakkar, which was made only from oak planks and was widely represented among Northern European peoples much later - from the 12th to the 14th centuries. Despite the fact that the ship received critical damage during a funeral rite, and the burial mound itself was plundered in the Middle Ages, archaeologists found on the burnt drakkar the remains of expensive (even now!) silk fabrics, as well as two skeletons (of a young and an elderly woman) with decorations that speak of their exceptional position in society. Also found on the ship was a traditionally shaped wooden cart and, most surprisingly, peacock bones. Another “uniqueness” of this archaeological artifact is that the remains of people on the Oseberg ship were initially associated with the Ynglings (dynasty of Scandinavian leaders), but later DNA analysis revealed that the skeletons belonged to haplogroup U7, which corresponds to people from the Middle East, in particular Iranians.

Another famous Viking longship was discovered in Østfold (Norway), in the village of Rolvsey near Tyn. This discovery was made by the famous 19th century archaeologist Olaf Ryugev. The “sea dragon” found in 1867 was called the Thun ship. The Thun ship dates back to the turn of the 10th century, around 900. Its cladding is made of oak boards laid overlapping. The Tyun ship was poorly preserved, but a comprehensive analysis revealed the dimensions of the drakkar: 22 meters long, 4.25 meters wide, with a keel length of 14 meters, and the number of oars could presumably vary from 12 to 19. The main feature of the Tyun ship is that the design was based on oak frames (ribs) made of straight rather than bent boards.

Drakkar construction technology, sail installation, crew selection

Viking drakkars were built from strong and reliable wood species - oak, ash and pine. Sometimes the drakkar model involved the use of only one breed, more often they were combined. It is curious that Old Scandinavian engineers sought to select tree trunks for their ships that already had natural bends; not only frames, but also keels were made from them. The cutting of wood for the ship was followed by splitting the trunk in half; the operation was repeated several times, with the elements of the trunk always split along the grain. All this was done before the wood dried, so the boards were very flexible; they were additionally moistened with water and bent over an open fire.

The main tool for building a Viking longship was an axe; additionally, drills and chisels were used. Interestingly, saws were known to the Scandinavians fromVIIIcenturies, but they were never used for building ships. Moreover, there are legends according to which famous shipbuilders created longships using only an axe.

To sheath the ships of the drakkars (pictures of the drawings are presented below), the so-called clinker laying of boards was used, that is, overlapping laying (overlapping). The fastening of the boards to the hull of the ship and to each other strongly depended on the area where the ship was made and, apparently, local beliefs had a great influence on this process. Most often, the planks in the skin of a Viking drakkar were fastened with wooden nails, less often with iron nails, and sometimes they were tied in a special way. Then the finished structure was tarred and caulked; this technology has not changed for centuries. This method created an “air cushion”, which added stability to the ship, while increasing the speed of movement led to improved buoyancy of the structure.

The sails of the “sea dragons” were made exclusively from sheep wool. It is worth noting that the natural fatty coating on sheep’s wool (“scientifically” it is called lanolin) gave the sailing fabric excellent protection from moisture, and even in heavy rain such a fabric got wet very slowly. It is interesting to note that this technology for making sails for longships is clearly reminiscent of modern linoleum production techniques. The shapes of the sails were universal - either rectangular or square, this ensured controllability and high-quality acceleration in a tailwind.

Icelandic Scandinavian experts calculated that the average sail for a drakkar ship (photos of reconstructions can be seen below) required about 2 tons of wool (the resulting canvas had an area of up to 90 square meters). Taking into account medieval technologies, this is approximately 144 man-months, that is, to create such a sail, 4 people had to work daily for 3 years. It is not surprising that large and high-quality sails were literally worth their weight in gold.

As for the selection of a crew for a Viking drakkar, the captain (most often it was a hersir, chief or jarl, less often - a king) always took with him only the most reliable and trusted people, because the sea, as we know, does not forgive mistakes. Each warrior was “attached” to his oar, the bench next to which literally became home for the Viking during the campaign. He stored his property under a bench or in a special barrel, slept on a bench, covered with a woolen cloak. On long campaigns, whenever possible, Viking longships always stopped near the shore so that the warriors could spend the night on solid ground.

A camp on the shore was also necessary during large-scale military operations, when the ship took two to three times more soldiers than usual, and there was not enough space for everyone. At the same time, the captain of the ship and several of his associates did not normally participate in the rowing, and the helmsman (helmsman) did not touch the oar. And here it’s worth remembering one of the key features of “sea dragons,” which can be considered textbook. The warriors laid their weapons on the deck, while their shields were hung overboard on special mounts. The drakkar with shields on both sides looked very impressive and really struck fear into the hearts of enemies with its very appearance. On the other hand, by the number of shields overboard it was possible to determine in advance the approximate size of the ship's crew.

Modern reconstructions of longships - the experience of centuries

Medieval Scandinavian ships were repeatedly recreated in the 20th century by reconstructors from different countries, and in many cases a specific historical analogue was taken as a basis. For example, the famous longship "Seahorse of Glendalough" is actually a clear replica of the Irish ship "Skuldelev II", which was released in 1042. This ship was wrecked in Denmark near the Rosklilde fjord. The name of the ship is not original; archaeologists named it that way in honor of the town of Skuldelev, near which the remains of 5 ships were found in 1962.

The dimensions of the drakkar “Seahorse from Glendalough” are amazing: it is 30 in length, 300 trunks of first-class oak were used to build this masterpiece, seven thousand nails and six hundred liters of high-quality resin were used in the process of assembling the drakkar model, as well as 2 kilometers of hemp rope.

Another famous reconstruction is called "Harald Fairhair" in honor of the first king of Norway, Harald Fairhair. This ship was built from 2010 to 2015, it is 35 meters long and 8 meters wide, it has 25 pairs of oars, and the sail has an area of 300 square meters. The recreated Viking ship can easily accommodate up to 130 people, and on it the reenactors traveled across the ocean to the shores of North America. The unique longship (photo above) regularly travels along the coast of Great Britain; anyone can join the team of 32 people, but only after careful selection and lengthy preparation.

In 1984, a small longship was reconstructed based on the Gokstad ship. It was created by professional shipbuilders at the Petrozavodsk shipyard to participate in the filming of the wonderful film “And Trees Grow on Stones.” In 2009, several Scandinavian ships were created at the Vyborg shipyard, where they are moored to this day, periodically used as original props for historical films.

Thus, the legendary ships of the ancient Scandinavians still excite the imagination of historians, travelers and adventurers. Drakkar embodies the spirit of the Viking Age. These squat, nimble ships quickly and quietly approached the enemy and made it possible to implement the tactics of a quick stunning attack (the notorious blitzkrieg). It was on longships that the Vikings plied the Atlantic; on these ships the legendary northern warriors sailed along the rivers of Europe, reaching all the way to Sicily! The legendary Viking ship is a true triumph of the engineering genius of a distant era.

P.S. Today, the drakkar tattoo is a fairly popular option for “artistic body carving.” In some cases it looks quite impressive, but you need to understand that we do not have a single historical evidence that the Drakkar tattoo could exist. Despite the fact that we know quite a lot about tattoos in Scandinavian culture. Such a revealing moment suggests that the Drakkar tattoo is not at all a way to honor the memory of our ancestors, but rather a stupid whim.

Viking ships

Most of what we know about Viking ships comes from the discovery of two special boats buried in the second half of the 9th century. in Gokstad and Oseberg in Norway. The ships excavated from these famous sites merely complete a list of similar discoveries that greatly expand the range of our knowledge of the subject. The most recent discovery of five ships was discovered in 1962 near Skuldelev in Roskilde Fjord, Zealand, where they were scuttled to block the entrance to the harbor in the early 11th century. Most of the discoveries were ship graveyards, and were found mainly in Norway. Only one such discovery was made in Denmark, in Ladby. The earliest successful excavations of ships were carried out in Thun in 1867, and in Gokstad and Osebergs only in 1880 and 1903. accordingly, but these finds were poorly preserved.

9th century ship found in Gokstad, Vestfold, Norway. It was excavated in 1880 in a mound measuring 162 feet wide and 16 feet high. Preserved by blue clay. (Oldsaxamlipg University, Oslo)

Judging by the large number of ancient technical terms used in modern language, it is obvious that the Vikings had different vessels in design and purpose. But a clear distinction between merchant ships and military ships appeared only in the 10th century, thanks not only to the increased importance of trade in the Scandinavian economy, but also to the establishment of the military organization ledungen, which required the construction of specialized ships. Knorr and kaupskip were intended for trade; for military campaigns - snekkja (meaning "thin and prominent"), skeid (possibly meaning "cutting the water") and drekar or "dragon" - a name which undoubtedly came from the custom of carving a dragon's head on the prow of Viking warships.

The carved prow of an Ozberg ship, ending in a spiral in the form of a snake's head. (Oldsaxamling University, Oslo)

General purpose vessels, equally suitable for trade and piracy, such as those found at Gokstad, were usually called skuta or karfi. The most distinct difference between merchant ships and warships was that the former were short, wide, with high freeboards and depended primarily on the power of the sails. The military ones were longer, already had a smaller displacement (this increased their speed and ability to cover long distances upriver during pirate expeditions) and much more oars. Therefore, warships received the characteristic name langskip - a long ship, or “boat”.

Warships varied greatly in size. They were classified by the number of benches (cans) for the rowers (sessa), or the spaces between the cross beams ("seats", rum or spantrum). According to Gulafinglow, in the 10th century. a thirteen-can ship (threttanscssa, i.e. a ship with 13 benches (banks) on each side, or 26 oars) was the smallest of those that could be called military - anything that was even smaller was already considered unsuitable for war. It is known that in the raids on England at the end of the 9th century. 16-18 can boats were used, since the Anglo-Saxon chronicle tells that the Great King of Wessex Alfred in 896 built 60-oared ships (i.e. with 30 or more benches) that were twice as large, than the Vikings. It is obvious that the ship found in Gokstad belonged to around this time and was 16-can. By the time of Gulafinglow, the standard for warships had been set at 20 or 25 cans. Thirty-can ships were also found, only in very small numbers (Gulafinglow, for example, estimates the military potential of Norway in the mid-10th century at one hundred and twenty 20-can ships, one hundred and sixteen 25-can ships, and only one 30-can ship). Giant warships, over 30 jars, began to appear at the very end of the 10th century. King Olaf Trygvasson's "Long Serpent" with 34 benches was the first and most famous. It was built in the winter of 998; but it was not the largest in history, as many prominent experts claim. Also famous were several 35-can ships built in the 11th–13th centuries, for example, the “Great Dragon” of King Harald Hardrada, built in the winter of 1061–1062. in Nidaros.

A restored Gokstad ship, at the Viking Ship Museum in Oslo. (Oldsaxamling University, Oslo.)

"Hugin", reconstruction of the Gokstad ship, made in Denmark. In 19?9 this restored ship crossed the North Sea. Now stands on a plinth at Pegwell Bay, near Ramsgate, Kent.

King Harald's Saga describes it as being considerably wider than a normal warship - the same size and proportions as the Long Serpent - and every detail was carefully crafted. On the bow there was a dragon's head, on the stern there was a tail, and the bow was gilded. It had 35 pairs of benches and was huge even for its class. Flateyarbok now states that King Cnut had a vessel with 60 berths, but this is undoubtedly an error and refers to 60 oars. Because otherwise its length would be 230 feet or even more, which is basically impossible.

One of Skuldelev's five ships is the largest ever found. The warship was found in poor condition. It is estimated to have been approximately 92 feet long and 15 feet wide, possibly with 20 to 25 cans. Among other finds, we can also note examples excavated: at Ladby (c. 900-950) measuring 70 by 8.5 feet - from the proportions it is clear that this is a warship, despite 12 pairs of oars; at Thun (c. 850–900) - measuring approximately 65 by 14.5 feet, with 11 pairs of oars. The vessel found at Oseberg was 71.5 feet long and 17 feet wide, with 15 pairs of oars (it was probably something like a "royal yacht"); and the Gokstad find was even larger - 76 feet long and 17.5 feet wide, with 16 pairs of oars. The Knorr, discovered at Skuldelev, is the only merchant ship found recently, measuring 54 by 15.75 feet.

Warships and merchant ships had two small raised decks, at the bow and at the stern. Between them was a deck lined with loose planks that were raised to facilitate the stowage of bales, constantly necessary in severe weather. When at anchor or in the harbor, the main deck was covered with a large awning attached to a collapsible, lightweight hull frame to protect the crew from the elements. The Svarfdela saga describes 12 ships at anchor: “All covered with black awnings. There was light coming from under the tents where people were sitting and drinking.” Crew members' shields were usually hung along the gunwales, although modern experts often argue that this was only done "on special occasions" and was not possible during rowing. However, this opinion is based only on the example of the Gokstad ship, on which the shields were tied with straps to a wooden batten so that they actually covered the oars. On the Oseberg ship they were located in the slots of the frame and attached to the outside of the gunwale in such a way that they did not interfere with rowing at all. This also coincides with the evidence of the sagas, which note that shields were sometimes attached this way on ships participating in the battle. For example, in the “Battle of the Gafrs Fjord” it is described that the gunwales “shined with polished shields,” and in the “Battle of the Nissa River” in 1062, “the warriors made a fortification from shields hung along the gunwales.” Gotlandic rock paintings also show shields arranged in this manner on sailing ships.

Approximately 375 runestones carved on limestone and sandstone, dating from the 5th to 10th centuries, were found on the island of Gotland, Sweden. The best ones belong to the 8th–9th centuries. This example, from Larbro, shows a fully equipped ship in the lower part and a battle scene in the upper part. Between them is a procession of warriors going to Valhalla. (Stockholm)

Incredibly, no traces of the rowers' benches themselves were found in any of the Viking ships; it is most often assumed that their role was played by the personal chests of the sailors (the chests from the Oseberg ship were of a suitable size for sitting).

Although some documents claim that sailors did not store their belongings in chests, but in leather bags (hudfat), which also served as sleeping bags, so this issue is not so easy to solve. In one of the warships found near Skuldelev, cross beams could probably have been used as seats. At the same time, one expert suggested that the rowers were standing at all. The oars themselves usually averaged 16–17 feet in length, but on the Gokstad ship they ranged from 17 feet to 19 feet 2 inches. There was usually one person at the oars, but during a battle there could be three to protect the oarsman from enemy projectiles and to ensure a shift. Olaf Trygvasson’s “Long Serpent” in one of the battles in 1000 supposedly had up to 8 people for “half the space” (that is, on each oar), not counting the other 30 fighters. This adds up to 574 crew members, so it is more likely that there were 8 people per “seat” rather than “half seat”, and the crew consisted of 302 sailors.

This is a carved weather vane made of gilded bronze. According to the sagas, it was installed on the bow of many Viking boats and was a sign of special significance. Four examples survive as wind vanes on church spiers. This weather vane was found in Hälsingland in Sweden, while others were found on the island. Gotland and Norway. All four date from the 11th to 13th centuries, although the example from Sweden is sometimes attributed to the 10th century. The weather vane showed several scratches and dents, probably caused by arrows. Such weather vanes served as long as the Viking ships themselves, and they ended up on church spiers according to the tradition of folding sails and other portable items to salvage warships in local churches. After a crushing defeat in a naval battle in the 15th century by a flotilla of high-sided fishing boats, the old galleys saw no further action; their equipment was no longer in use, and the weather vanes were found in churches. (Stockholm)

Huge square sails were used for trips to the open sea. They appeared on Scandinavian ships in the 8th century at the latest, and were undoubtedly one of those technological innovations that contributed to the rise of Viking civilization. In 1893, the Viking, a faithful reconstruction of the Gokstad ship, crossed the Atlantic Ocean. He reached speeds of up to 11 knots under sail and reached Newfoundland from Bergen in just 28 days. The sails of the Vikings themselves were probably made of wool, although some experts claim they were made of linen. The ornamental patterns depicted in Gotlandic rock paintings may reflect how woolen sails were used to maintain the shape of woolen sails using leather straps and ropes. These drawings also show the principle of operation of the reef ropes attached to the bottom of the sail. It was undoubtedly no different from the principle of operation used on northern Norwegian fishing boats until the 19th century. When the rope was pulled, the canvas was reefed, forming folds, and thus the sail was removed. The sagas describe Viking sails with blue, red, green and white stripes and checks. The remains of the sails from the Gokstad ship were white with red stripes. The mast was, most likely, only half the length of the ship itself, so when it was lowered during the battle, it did not even touch the beams at the stern. Not a single mast was found in its entirety.

At the stern on the starboard side (steering side) there was a large oar with a removable handle, which served as a rudder. The heads and tails of animals, in particular dragons (“snakes”), were usually carved on the bow and stern. This northern European custom dates back to the 1st–2nd centuries, as confirmed by Norwegian cave paintings. Ships were usually named after such gilded heads, for example: “Long Serpent”, “Buffalo”, “Crane”, “Human Head”. According to Icelandic law, when traveling to a new land, it was necessary to first transport the head figure from the ship in order to drive away the spirits that patronize the island. This custom may have been widespread throughout Scandinavia, since even the Boye tapestry depicts a Norman flotilla sailing on the sea with figures of heads, and landing in England without them.

Design on a carved cane from the first half of the thirteenth century, found in Bergen. The bows of Norwegian ships are depicted, three of which have weather vanes.

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The latter type of boats also includes Scandinavian longships - Viking ships. Such ships are now rarely seen on the waters, although they once plied the seas and oceans, not just the coastal waters of Norway, and, according to historians, even reached the shores of America before Columbus's caravels.

"Dragons" from the Norwegian fjords

Translated from Norwegian, the name of the Vikings sounds like “dragon ship”, which is associated with the characteristic frightening decorations in the form of carved sculptures (most often dragons) in the bow of such ships. Another name for drakkars is Langskip, i.e. “long ships”, which is also associated with the peculiarities of shipbuilding of the Scandinavians, who make their wooden ships narrow (up to 2.6 m wide), long (from 35 to 60 m), with a highly raised curved stern and bow. Drakkars were also called the entire flotilla of Scandinavian warships on which the Vikings carried out their raids from the sea into foreign territories.

This is interesting! It was customary to remove the knob in the form of a dragon's head from the bow of a longship when the ship approached friendly lands. The Vikings believed that this way they could avoid the wrath of good spirits. In addition, such “decorations” were present only on combat longships, while similar Viking fishing and trading ships had nothing of the kind.

Drakkars moved across the expanses of water by rowing with oars (on particularly large ships there were up to 30-35 pairs of oars), as well as by the assistance of a fair wind blowing into a rectangular (less often square) sail spread out in the middle of the ship. The sails were made from sheep's wool. One extensive cloth could take up to 2 tons of wool and a couple of years of work to create it, so sails were a very valuable component of longships.

Steering was carried out by a steering oar installed on the starboard side of the vessel. With such “engines”, longships could reach speeds of up to 10-12 knots, which at that time could be equated to fairly high “technical indicators”. Viking boats could navigate both narrow bays and wide expanses of sea. It is known for certain that Scandinavian longships reached the shores of Greenland and, and even the coast of North America (which was later proven more than once by repeating the route on similar replica ships).

This is interesting! In addition to drakkars, the Vikings also had snekkars - “snake ships”, which were smaller in size and capable of speeds of up to 15-20 knots, and knorrs - merchant ships. Knorrs were wider than longships, but at the same time they developed less speed and were not intended for walking in shallow river waters.

Longships with low sides often merged with high waves, which allowed the Vikings to make a sudden landing on the shore, being completely unexpected opponents. It is likely that the name “Vikings,” literally sounding like “people from,” also arose due to ships with terrifying dragon heads suddenly appearing from the coastal bays.

Drakkar - home of the Viking

Drakkars were wooden ships, in the construction of which preference was given to ash, oak and pine. For the manufacture of the keel and frame, trees with natural bends were initially selected. For the side cladding, only oak boards were used, which were overlapped. In addition, the sides of the ship were protected by shields.

This is interesting! It was believed that to build a drakkar it was enough to have only an ax (or several of its varieties), although other tools were often used.

The Scandinavians considered the ship their home. Like a horse for a nomad, a ship for the Vikings was the main treasure for which they did not mind giving their lives in battle with enemies. Even the Scandinavian kings (tribal leaders) were sent on their last journey in longships. Some burial vessels that have survived to this day can be seen in Norway.

The Vikings’ particularly reverent attitude towards their ships is evidenced by the original names of the longships: “Lion of the Waves”, “Sea Serpent”, “Horse of the Wind”, etc., which are known from the ancient Scandinavian sagas. And the seaworthiness of these ships fully justified such poetic names. When, in 1893, a copy of a medieval longship, called the “Viking,” overtook other sailing ships in 27 days, it was clearly proven that few could compete with the Viking ships during their existence for the best seaworthiness.

Ships from the Scandinavian sagas today

Lines from Hetfield’s song “Slowly the longships sail into the distance, you don’t expect to meet them anymore...” they remind you that the era of the Vikings and longships has long sunk into oblivion, but there are enthusiasts who are not indifferent to the historical heritage of the Scandinavians, who are trying to recreate a piece of the past in the present.

For example, the largest modern drakkar, which took almost 5 years to build (or rather, recreate an ancient copy), was created specifically to cross the Atlantic and be able to clearly prove that Viking ships could reach the coast of North America (which was done in the summer this year).

This is interesting! On the Vyborg embankment you can see typical Viking longships with an unusual history.

The ships are not historical, but created at the Petrozavodsk shipyard specifically for the filming of the film “And Trees Grow on Stones” (1984), which took place in this city. The real-life Gokstad ship was taken as a model. The director of the film, Stanislav Rostotsky, after the completion of filming, gave the boat to the residents of the city in gratitude for their help in filming the film. But now you can only admire the new models - created in 2009 at the Vyborg shipyard to replace the blackened “movie” ships.

Many fans of historical reconstructions repeatedly attempt to recreate one or another real-life Scandinavian longship, using the same simple Viking shipbuilding technologies. For example, to recreate one of the most famous longships in history - the 30-meter long "Havhingsten fra Glendalough" - it took about 300 oak trees, 7000 nails, 600 liters of resin (all ships made by the Vikings were impregnated with resin) and 2 km of ropes.

Reconstructions of historical Viking ships are popular among residents of Denmark and, but most often they reconstruct not longships, but snekkars, which do not require large teams to operate.

Although the Vikings went down in history as sea robbers, no worse than the pirates of the Caribbean, it can be said that their shipbuilding traditions served as the basis for the creation of medieval Western Europe, which adopted the successful designs of Scandinavian longships.

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