General Resources on Viking Ships

1. The History of Shipbuilding

The first boats were probably logboats, rafts and skinboats. The earliest logboats
in Europe are 8-9000 years old. Early planked boats were often sewn or stitched
together. Ships of Antiquity were assembled by the mortise and tenon fashion. From
Medieval times, planks were fastened with wooden pegs or iron rivets.
2. Replica Viking Boat
Replica Viking boat on display in the Interpretation Center L'Anse aux Meadows
National Historic Site in Newfoundland Photo: Parks Canada
3. Nomads of the North Atlantic: The Original Viking Ships
Without their marvelous sailing ships, the Vikings would have played a much
smaller part in history. But centuries of getting around on the water created a
race of master boatbuilders, and the ships they developed represented a giant step
forward in the design and capabilities of coastal and seagoing vessels.
4. Viking Ships
Vikings had several kinds of ships according to what they would be used for and
what kind of water they would have to sail, but the basic pattern was the same for
them all. There were two main types: warships and transport ships.
5. The Viking Canoe
This viking canoe (the only one found or known of as yet!) is from �rby G�rd -
that could be literally translated and pronounced Orby Farm in english, and is
located near Rasbo-Kil, just east of Uppsala and north of Stockholm in the heart
of eastern Sweden's viking country (ever heard of The Vendel period?
6. The Roskilde ships
It was in the course of the work on the jetty-structure, in the autumn of 1996,
that ship-parts were encountered for the first time. A preliminary diving-
investigation showed that this was a ship from the Middle Ages, now labelled the
Roskilde 1-ship. Salvaged boards have been dendrochronologically dated to about
1336.
7. Viking Ships
The Viking ships, both the Longship and the merchant ship or 'Kn�rr', could
equally well handle ocean voyages across the Atlantic. Neither needed a harbour,
but could land on beaches or river banks anywhere.
8. Viking Ships
Although people generally mention Viking ships as if there were one basic type, it
would be better to think of such ships as a class, varying from oceangoing craft
to warships. What all Viking ships have in common is a beautiful symmetry and in
being clinker-built. By clinker, each hull plank overlaps its neighbor.
9. Dannish Viking Ships
At the end of the 10th century, a number of naval barricades were built in
Roskilde Fiord, in order to protect the important trading center Roskilde from
attacks. In examinations made in the years 1957-59, done by the National Museum,
it became clear that viking ships had been sunk at the barriers, and constituted
the main body of the Peberrenden blockade.
10. What's the difference between a longship and a dragonship
There were several types of ships used by the Vikings, and all could be properly
termed longship since the nature of their clinker-built construction caused them
to have a low, lean line, being much narrower in the beam than ships built by more
southerly cultures, and thus appearing quite long for their width.
11. The Ancient Mariner
The Vikings were the most powerful people in northwestern Europe for nearly five
centuries from about AD 800. Their longships were fast and sleek. Powered by sail
or oars, they were ideally suited for raiding because their shallow draught meant
that they could travel up estuaries and rivers.
12. Viking Ships
The Viking Age was the time when the Scandinavians were able to exert a serious
influence on developments in the whole of the Northern European area. It was the
age of colonisation - of conquest and plunder, and the time for founding towns
where trade flourished and communications were good.
13. Viking Ships and their Uses
Not all Viking ships were great sea going vessels. A more common sight would have
been smaller boats that were used to cross the fjords and rivers. From these, you
could ferry a few people from shore to shore, fish, sink fish traps, or move some
co-operative livestock to better forage on the opposite bank.
14. THE TACTICAL ADVANTAGE OF THE VIKING SHIPS
Shipbuilding in Scandinavia also contributed to the tactical superiority of the
Vikings. A well-known Swedish archaeologist has written that the Viking ships are
the only seaworthy amphibious landing vessels ever to be used by invasion forces.
15. The Viking Ships
Vikings have become famous principally thanks to the long trips they made in their
ingeniously constructed ships in which they visited four continents.
16. The Vikings and Their Ships
The Vikings built many different kinds of ships, from small fishing boats and
ferries up to the famous longship. Viking ships large and small were all made in
the same way. Planks of timber, usually oak were overlapped and nailed together.
17. The Viking Navy
The Viking Navy designs, builds and sails Viking Ships. Formed in 1995 for people
that would like to do a little Viking.
18. Viking Ship Homepage
Not all Viking boats or ships had those high stems and dragonheads. There are
quite few nice boats from findings in Denmark and Sweden without them.
19. Evolution of the Viking Ship
Through the ages, the Viking ship changed shape. Cargo ships' sides were made high
to hold more cargo. This posed disadvantages in high seas because the extra weight
made the ship lie low in the water. Trade between Scandinavia and Germany
increased as more cargo was demanded
20. Viking Canoe
This viking canoe (the only one found or known of as yet!) is from �rby G�rd -
that could be literally translated and pronounced Orby Farm in english, and is
located near Rasbo-Kil, just east of Uppsala and north of Stockholm in the heart
of eastern Sweden's viking country.
21. Viking Ships
The sagas provide little information about the ships the Vikings used to cross the
Atlantic or to sail east. These ships were known at the time to be silent, swift,
and light enough to be pulled ashore and carried over land.
Viking Ship Construction

1. Construction of a Viking Ship in Modern Times

Bjarne Asp studied Norwegian history at Concordia College in Moorhead, MN in the
summer of 1971. Bjarne provided Bob Asp with books about Vikings. Bob Asp based
the design of his ship on the Gokstad burial ship. The Gokstad had been unearthed
from a burial mound near Sandefjord, Norway in 1880. The ship was dated with a
construction date circa 800 AD.
2. Constructional Features of Viking Ship
Just like Skuldelev 1 and 3 this wreck was part of the first phase of the
Skuldelev blockage in the Roskilde Fjord in Eastern Denmark. It was a small
warship that by the time of scuttling had been repaired far beyond normal for
known wrecks of the period. Both under oars and sail it had been a swift personnel
carrier for a crew of about 30 warriors.
The Drakkar; The Longship

1. The Terror of the Longship

The Viking longshipwas a sleek warship or ceremonial vessel but only thought to
exist in myth until the fragments of a relatively small one were first found at
Ladby, Denmark in 1935.
2. The Longship
Long, narrow ships packed with warriors helped to make the Vikings the dominant
power in Europe for three centuries, beginning in about A.D. 800
the Knarr: The Cargo Ship
1. The Knarr
Another ship found during the excavations in Norway 100 years ago was the Viking
knarr or heavy cargo ship. This ship was 54 feet long, 15 feet wide, and 6 feet, 3
inches high from keel to gunwale. Eric the Red most likely used a ship of this
construction to survive the beating waves of the long Atlantic journeys.
2. The Knarr
The most common type of longship was the knorr (pl. knerrir). The knorr was the
workhorse of Viking cargo ships, the mainstay of the Icelandic traders.
3. Viking ship lands in Newfoundland from Greenland!
The headline above is not far off from what a newspaper might have reported in the
tiny village of L'Anse-Aux-Meadows, Newfoundland a thousand years ago - if people
or newspapers existed there, of course! The momentous occasion then was the
arrival of the Viking sailor, Leif Eriksson, who had travelled from Greenland to
the northern tip of Newfoundland.
The Oseberg
1. The Oseberg Find
The Oseberg find is the richest Viking grave find ever to be revealed in the
entire world. A 70' oaken Viking vessel, beautifully hand carved in the stem and
stern and fully laden for its last journey, was accidentally discovered by a
farmer at Slagen in Vestfold County, Norway, during 1903.
2. The Oseberg Ship
The Oseberg ship was found in a large burial mound on Slagen farm in Vestfold and
excavated in 1904. The ship was built in around 815-820 A.D. and had been used as
a sailing vesssel for many years before it was put to use as a burial ship for a
prominent woman who died in 834.
3. The Oseberg
A Viking ship with a beautifully carved keel was discovered in Norway in 1903 and
was probably built around 800 A.D. Known as the Oseberg, this ship was 19 feet, 2
inches long with 15 pairs of oars and a nailed-down deck.
4. The Oseberg Ship
Built around the year 817, the Oseberg ship was found in 1904 in a burial mound
located on a farm 70 miles south of Oslo, Norway.
5. The Oseberg Cart
This page is devoted to the Oseberg cart which was part of a burial mound
excavated in Norway in 1904. The Oseberg find contained one of the greatest Viking
age ships ever discovered. It is dated to about 820 A.D.
6. Models of the Oseberg Ship
This page shows a reproduction scale model of the Oseberg ship. Closeups of
certain sections are also included.
7. The Oseberg Find

8. THE OSEBERG SHIP

The Oseberg ship was found in a large burial mound on Slagen farm in Vestfold and
excavated in 1904. The ship was built in around 815-820 A.D. and had been used as
a sailing vesssel for many years before it was put to use as a burial ship for a
prominent woman who died in 834.
9. Tim Osberg's Viking Ship Home Page
The town of Oseberg was the site of the excavation of the Oseberg Ship, one of
only two Viking Ships whose remains were reconstructed. The other is the Gokstad
Ship. Buried along with the Oseberg Ship were numerous artifacts reflecting Viking
art and culture.
The Gokstad Ship
1. The Gokstad Ship
During the year 1880 the sons of 'Gokstad', a farm in Sandar began to dig in a
mound on their land. The mound was commonly known as the 'Kings Mound'. As they
dug down in the blue clay they found moss and wood that was virtually unspoiled.
The local people had wondered for a long time if the mound was formed by nature or
by man. The finds confirmed that the mound was man- made.
2. The Gokstad; The Viking Longship
What we know of Viking ships today comes from the pagan burial rituals of the
time. Viking warriors and rich families were buried with their worldly goods,
including their ships. Buried ships were placed deep in the earth with large
mounds marking their places.
3. Gokstad ship
The world famousGokstad ship was excavated from this majestic burial mound in
1880.
4. THE GOKSTAD SHIP
The Gokstad ship was found in a large burial mound at Gokstad farm in Sandar,
Vestfold in 1880. The ship had been built around 890 A.D. and later used in the
ship burial of a powerful chieftain who died in or around 900 A.D.
5. Gokstad Ship
The Gokstad ship was found in a large burial mound at Gokstad farm in Sandar,
Vestfold in 1880. The ship had been built around 890 A.D. and later used in the
ship burial of a powerful chieftain who died in or around 900 A.D.
6. Gokstad Viking Ship
The Gokstad Viking Ship was discovered in 1880, buried in a huge mound of blue
clay southwest of Oslo. The clay preserved the oak vessel for a 1000 years. The
man buried in the ship was, in all liklihood, Olaf inn hviti, or Olaf the White,
Viking King and co-ruler of Dublin along with Ivarr the Boneless, son of Ragnarr
lodbrok and conqueror of two-thirds of the Danelaw.
7. Lecture Notes on the Gokstad Ship
Found in 1880 in Sandefjorde in Norway and dated to 850 AD, fifty years after the
Oseberg ship. Probably the tomb of the Westfold king Olav Gierstada (see Brogger &
Shetelig). She is slightly longer than the Oseberg ship at 79 feet overall, and
roughly the same beam at 16.9 feet, but deeper at 6.9 feet amidships.
8. Voyage of the Gokstad Replica: 1893
To participate in the festivities around the celebration of the 400th anniversary
of Columbus' discovery of America in 1892-93, a Viking ship reconstruction was
built in Sandefjord, Norway. It was based on the Gokstad find, built of oak by
commander Chr. Christensen in Sandefjord, and was named simply Viking.
9. The Development of Viking Ships: The Gokstad Example
The famous ships Oseberg and Gokstad are both classified as a "karf�", which
pretty much means a private yacht. The Oseberg though, which is some 70-75 years
older, is obviously made for coastal sailing mainly, while the Gokstad is clearly
made for open sea traffic.