Dreknor, Viking long ship replica, Cherbourg, Normandy, France
The discovery of two particular buried vessels at Gokstad and Oseberg in Norway provided information about the Viking ships. There were two distinct classes of Viking ships: the 'longship' (sometimes erroneously called drakkar, a corruption of "dragon" in Norse) and the 'knarr'. The longship, intended for warfare and exploration, was designed for speed and agility, and was equipped with oars to complement the sail as well as making it able to navigate independently of the wind. The longship had a long and narrow hull and shallow draft to facilitate landings and troop deployments in shallow water. The knarr was a dedicated merchant vessel designed to carry cargo. It was designed with a broader hull, deeper draft and limited number of oars (used primarily to maneuver in harbors and similar situations). One Viking innovation was the 'beitass', a spar mounted to the sail that allowed their ships to sail effectively against the wind. Longships were used extensively by the Leidang, the Scandinavian defence fleets. The term "Viking ships" has entered common usage, however, possibly because of its romantic associations Longships are not to be confused with later-period longboats. It was common for Viking ships to tow or carry a smaller boat to transfer crews and cargo from the ship to shore.
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Photo credit: © Scenics & Science / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: barbarian, cherbourg, dreknor, farers, france, long, normandy, raiders, replica, scandinavia, sea, ship, viking, wicing
