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The Viking ship was perhaps the greatest technical and artistic achievement of the European dark ages. These fast ships had the strength to survive ocean crossings while having a draft of as little as 50cm (20 inches), allowing navigation in very shallow water.

©2003 Robert Becker

Ships were an important part of Viking society, not only as a means of transportation, but also for the prestige that it conferred on her owner and skipper. Their ships permitted the Vikings to embark on their voyages of trading, of raiding, and of exploration.

Images of ships show up on jewelry (right), on memorial stones (left), and on coins from the Viking age. Some people were buried in ships, or ship-like settings made of stones (below), during the Viking age.

The picture to the left shows a sketch of the side view and hull section, and a photo of a 9^th century ship that was recovered early in the 20^th century in Oseberg. The ship was part of a very rich burial and is now on display near Oslo.

The Oseberg ship was once thought to be more representative of a royal yacht, rather than a true war ship, but more recent research suggests she was quite capable of sailing in open ocean.

In the 1970's, five 11^th century ships were found and recovered from the Skuldelev narrows in Denmark, giving us more examples of the variety of ships used in the Viking age. These ships had been intentionally scuttled, probably to block the channel during a raid.

The two Skuldelev warships are narrower and less spacious than the Oseberg ship. A sketch of the smaller of the two ships is shown to the right. She is 17.4m long (57 ft) and 2.6m broad (8.5 ft). These ships are probably more typical of the kind of vessel that was used by the Vikings on their raids.

A typical warship might have had 16 rowers on each side.

The crew's shields may have been arrayed along the gunwales, held in place by a shield rack outboard of the ship. This kept them out of the way, but also provided some slight additional protection against wind and waves.

The photos show the Íslendingur, a replica ship that sailed from Iceland to North America in the year 2000.

Both coins (left) and pictures stones (right) from the Viking age depict shields arrayed along the gunwale of a Viking ship. Additionally, the sagas say that shields were displayed. In Brennu-Njáls saga (ch. 84), Kári and his ten ships rowed hard to join a sea battle, with row after row of shields on display along the sides of the ships.

Several pieces of evidence suggest that shields were not routinely displayed while underway. On some ships, the shields interfere with the oarholes, preventing the oars from being used. Shield racks, to which the shields were fastened, were not robust, and probably were incapable of holding the shields securely in rough seas. Last, modern sailors of replica ships say they are very impractical.

The inboard side of the shield rack on the replica Viking ship Vésteinn is shown to the left. In this interpretation, wedges hold the shield in place in the rack.

Perhaps shields were displayed only for battle, or to make the ship look especially fine when approaching land. Landnámabók (S.156) tells of Hella-Björn Herfinnsson who sailed into Bjarnarfjörður with his ship lined with shields. Afterwards, he was called Skjalda-Björn (Shield-Björn).

The oars of the Gokstad ship varied in length from 5.3 to 5.85 meters (about 17 to 19ft) according to where they were used on the ship. The oarholes were not a uniform distance above the waterline, and so the length of each oar was chosen so that the blades all hit the water in unison.

The oars were made of pine with a narrow blade, which makes for an efficient, lightweight oar. The photos show the oars for the Íslendingur, which was no longer afloat when the photos were taken.

The ship has been on display at an open air museum for several years, but in the fall of 2008, she was moved indoors to a new museum, Víkingaheimar at Reykjanesbær in Iceland.

The oarholes of the Gokstad ship were only 40cm (16 inches) above the deck. Most likely, each crewman's sea chest doubled as a rowing bench (right).

Oarholes were sealed when not in use by covers that rotated in place to keep out water (left).

The slot cut into the oarhole that is visible in the upper photo to the left allowed the blade of the oar to pass through the oarhole so oars could be deployed entirely inboard of the ship  The slot was located in a position that received minimal stress while rowing, reducing the chance for wear or damage to the strakes or to the oars from the force of the stroke.

Warships typically had minimal decking, with removable planks under the rowers laid on the crossbeams (right), and small raised platforms at the bow and stern. When anchored or in harbor, an awning was arrayed overhead to provide some protection from the elements.

When Hurstwic took our first voyage aboard the Longship Company's ship Sae Hrafn, our rowing pace was considerably faster, more than double what this linguistic study suggests.

This discrepancy inspired Hurstwic to conduct some rowing experiments aboard the Sae Hrafn in 2015, comparing several different rowing styles. We started with the faster pace, which requires relatively short strokes. This stroke is used by the Longship Company as their standard, general-purpose stroke. We compared it to a slower stroke, suggested not only by the linguistic studies, but also by body mechanics considerations taken from our combat training. The long, slow strokes allowed us to fully utilize the powerful muscles in the lower part of the body that we use in our cutting, resulting in strokes that were familiar and comfortable.

We created a YouTube video (right) that shows our Viking ship rowing experiments and summarizes our results.

One of the games enjoyed by Vikings was toga hönk (tug-of-war). Unlike modern versions of the game, the old version uses muscle groups and movements similar to those used in rowing a ship when using slower, longer strokes. One wonders if the game was a way to sort out who might be a capable rower and thus a good addition to the ship's company.

Sagas tell of much larger warships, such as King Óláfr Tryggvasson's Ormurinn langi (Long Serpent), which were much longer and carried far more rowers than typical warships. A ship of this class would be the king's flagship in dynastic wars, as when King Óláfr of Norway battled King Sveinn Forkbeard, King Óláfr, and Earl Eiríkr at the Battle of Svölðr (left).

Until recently, there has been no evidence to confirm that ships this large ever existed. But wrecks found at the end of the 20^th century have confirmed the existence of these ships, which may have had 30 or more rowers on a side.

A replica ship of this size has recently been constructed in Norway, and is now sailing.

Sea battles in the Viking age were fought on stationary ships and were more like land battles waged on floating islands. The battles had three parts. First, steersmen on each ship maneuvered for the most favorable position, relative to both friend and foe. Battles were fought in protected fjords, or in the lee of an island where marksmanship would not be spoiled by rocking decks. Missiles (such as arrows and spears) were fired as the ships closed and drew together. Sails were furled, and it is possible that masts were unstepped. Allied ships were tied together, creating floating islands. Clever ruses were used to draw enemy ships into vulnerable positions for an attack.

Opposing crews tried to board the outermost ships in the tied-together fleet, with the goal of clearing the deck of the enemy. Hand to hand fighting on the decks of the ships determined the outcome. When the outermost ship was cleared, it was cut loose and set adrift, to make it possible to board the next ship making up the "island". Small boats swarmed around the battle to kill any combatants that tried to save themselves by jumping overboard.

A war ship was a valuable item, not only for the prestige and monetary value that went to her owner, but also for her utility in future battles. As a result, the intent in naval combat was to gain control of the ship (and any valuables she might be carrying) while minimizing any damage to the ship. This goal was achieved not by attacking the ship, but rather by attaching the ship's crew. The attackers attempted to sweep the decks free of the enemy without damaging the ship or her gear, and thus gain control of the ship.

The shallow draft of their ships allowed Vikings to set up impregnable bases deep within enemy territory. Viking ships could land anywhere there was a shelving beach; no harbor was necessary.

Chapter 4 of Bárðar saga Snæfellsás tells how the beach shown to the left got its name: Dritvík (Shit Bay). After Bárður Dumbsson beached his ship here, his men relieved themselves in the bay. The excrement washed up on the beach, thus the name.

Archaeological evidence supports the view that ships were beached regularly. The Skuldelev ships have wear on their keels consistent with sand and gravel landings.

In addition, the shallow draft made for fast and easy disembarkation during a raid. When the ship was beached, a Viking could be certain that if he jumped out near the stem, the water would scarcely be over his knees. The crew could leave the ship and join the raid quickly and confidently.

Merchants and explorers used cargo ships called knörr. A sketch of one of the three 11^th century knörr found near Skuldelev is shown to the left. This ship is a coastal trader and is 13.8m long (45 ft), 3.4m broad (11 ft), with a draft of 84cm (33 in). The loading capacity is approximately 4.1 tonnes (4.6 tons). A larger ocean-going trader found at Skuldelev was 16.3m long (53 ft) and 4.6m broad (15 ft) with a draft of 1.27m (50 in). However, she could carry nearly three times the cargo of the coastal trader: 13.6 tonnes (15 tons) filling over 30 cubic meters (more than 40 cubic yards). With a capacity this large, it is likely that she carried not only luxury goods, but also everyday objects in bulk quantities for trade. It's estimated that this ship's "effective" speed in regular ocean traffic was on the order of 3 to 6 knots.

The estuary is shown near high tide in the photo to the left, with Dýrafjörður in the background, and near low tide on the right. The sand and gravel on the bed of the estuary would have comfortably held the ship's keel, allowing her to have been unloaded with dry feet.

Smaller cargo ships were used on rivers, notably on Viking trade routes in Russia. These ships had larger crews (perhaps ten men) and more oars so as to be able to travel up river. These ships could be portaged if needed. (The illustration to the right is from Olaus Magnus' Historia published in 1555.)

Cargo ships were routinely carried overland as Viking traders traveled from the Baltic Sea (on the Lovat and Dvina Rivers) to the Black Sea (on the Dneipr and Volga Rivers) on their regular Asian and Arabian trade routes. Ships were also portaged around rapids on some of these trade routes in Russia. Large crews were required, not only for the physical labor required to carry the ship overland, but also to guard against attacks from bandits who waited near the portage sites to grab valuable cargo.

Ships were built using the "clinker" technique (right), in which the lower edge of each hull plank overlaps the upper edge of the one below. Planks (strakes) were riveted together using iron rivets. An assortment of rivets and washers are shown to the left, before use. Rivets were typically about 75mm (3 in) long. The total weight of rivets and washers used in the construction of a typical ship was about 150kg (330 lb), a very substantial and expensive amount of iron in the Norse era.

The value of the nails is apparent from an incident told in chapter 2 of Grænlendinga þáttur. Sigurður and his party came upon two ships beached next to a hut in the Greenland wilderness. Everyone from the ships was dead, and one of the ships was badly damaged. Sigurður had the rivets pulled and collected, then he burned the wreck. He returned home with the valuables and the undamaged ship, as well as with the bones of the dead men, so they could be buried in the churchyard.

Outboard and inboard views of the washers and rivets used on the Íslendingur are shown to the left, and on Draken Harald Hårfagre to the right.

Historical ships used much longer spacing between rivets than the modern reproductions shown in the photos on this page. Modern safety regulations require more closely spaced rivets for strength. Historical ships spaced the rivets as much as 60cm or more (24 inches) apart along the strakes, so the ship would be flexible in rough seas, bending and riding over the waves, rather than trying to resist them and taking the full impact of each swell. Thus thin-hulled Viking ships could survive the rough seas of the North Atlantic.

On some ships, the strakes were lashed to the frame using flexible lashings, rather than being firmly fixed, another way to create an elastic structure that rode over the waves. To the right is a sketch of the cross section of the planking of the Gokstad ship, showing how each plank was fastened to the frame.

However, on other ships, the strakes were fastened to the frame with wooden trenails (wooden dowels held in place by wooden wedges), and in some cases, by iron spikes. The trenails were preferred, since after installation, they swelled and held better than iron.

The structural elements of the Oseberg ship are shown to the left, showing the keel (blue), strakes (light blue), rib (green), crossbrace (yellow), knees (light red), and stanchion (magenta). Where each strake crossed a rib, a cleat was fabricated on the inboard side of the strake that stood proud above the surface of the strake. The rib rested in the cleat, and the lashing that fixed the strake to the rib passed through the cleat.

Even though cracks between the planks were sealed with moss or animal hair coated with tar, the elasticity of the ships made them prone to leaks, especially in rough seas. The sketch to the left shows (and probably with some accuracy) the cargo hold of a knörr knee-deep in water, despite the bailing by the crew. It's likely that one crew member bailed full time, with others helping when necessary.

In chapter 17 of Grettis saga, there's a description of bailing during rough seas. The crew was forced to bail round the clock. Two buckets were used, with a full one carried up while the empty one was passed back down to be refilled. When Grettir took over filling the buckets, eight men were needed to empty the buckets in order to keep up with him.

A sketch of an 11th century bailer is shown to the right. The bailer is made of wood and is about 50cm (20 in) long. There is also evidence of drain plugs in some hulls, to empty the water when the ship was pulled up on shore.

Oak planks were created from logs by riving: making thinner and thinner radial splits in the logs using wedges. The process is shown schematically to the left, and portions of a riven log are shown to the right.

From a typical 1m diameter trunk (40 inches), perhaps 20 planks, each about 30cm broad (1 foot) could be created. Compared to modern sawed boards, the radially split planks were stronger, with a smaller likelihood of splitting, warping, or shrinking, since the grain followed the plank.

The planking used in the Gokstad ship is only 2.5cm thick (1 inch), remarkably thin considering the rugged seas these ships must have encountered on the open ocean.

Riving was used to create other wooden objects in the Viking age, and this article details the use of riving to create an axe haft.

Trees were sought that grew naturally in the forms needed to make floors, frames, knees, ribs, and other odd shapes (left). Since the grain of the wood naturally followed the required shape (right), these pieces were much stronger than if they had been cut from straight wood.

A significant portion of the total time to build a ship was spent in the forest, finding trees of the right size, shape, and species for creating the parts of the ship. An illustration from a 18th century shipbuilding encyclopedia shows how the needed shapes were found growing naturally in the trees (right).

Small models of ship parts have been found in Bergen and other ship-building centers which have been interpreted as models used to select trees in the forest having the right shapes. Large branches were cut separately before the trunk was felled to avoid the damage to correctly shaped branches that would occur if the tree fell with the branches in place.

Long straight trees for planks were found in dense, old growth forests. Curved shapes for the frame were found in trees that grew along the edges of the woods, or in open land with free standing trees.

In order to avoid having to transport large pieces of wood from the forest to the shipyard, much of the rough processing took place in the forest, on the site where the wood was cut. Logs were rough split, probably into eighths, for transport. Curved timbers were rough worked to remove at least a portion of the unneeded volume of wood. For many of these curved shapes, only 20% of the original wood in the cut pieces was used, so removing the as much of the unneeded wood as possible before transport resulted in a significant reduction in the effort required to transport the rough worked pieces to the shipyard. Curved timbers were stored underwater to keep the timber green and workable until the piece was fabricated.

Due to the lack of suitable forests, it's unclear whether Iceland had a ship-building tradition during the Viking age. When the first settlers arrived, much of the land was forested, with birch predominating. However, it would seem that the tall, straight trees needed for keels and masts would be in short supply.

Landnámabók (S.20) says that Ávangr settled in Botn and built an ocean-going ship from the woods in the forest there. Svarfdæla saga (ch.12) says that a large oak was cut above Svarfaðardalur in north Iceland and floated down the creek to where it was used for the keel of an ocean-going ship built at Tunga. There are no oaks in that area today (left).

Ships were built using simple tools. Long shafted axes were used to fell the trees. Tree trunks were split into planks using wedges driven by hammers. Planks were trimmed using short shafted T-shaped broad axes, as illustrated on the Bayeux tapestry, shown left. Saws, although known, were not used. Planes were not needed to smooth the planks; ship builders could make the surfaces of the planks sufficiently smooth using only their axes. However, the overlapping edges of the strakes were smoothed with a plane in order to obtain a tight fit.

Where the strakes overlapped, a groove was cut with a mold scraper. Tarred woolen yarn or animal hair was forced into the groove to make the joint between strakes as watertight as possible. The mold scraper was also used to carve decorative patterns on the planks. Holes were made using a spoon-shaped bore pressed against the wooden surface by the builder's breastbone.

Each strake was different, shaped to fit into the curved three-dimensional space required to form the shape of the hull. A strake and the pine plank from which it was cut is shown schematically to the right for one of the strakes of a Skuldelev ship. The plank had to be much wider than the finished strake, due to the curved shape of the strake, resulting in a lot of waste.

The keel, stem, and sternpost were by far the most critical components of the ship. Errors in the design or construction of these components resulted in a ship with poor sailing characteristics.

It's not known what, if any, measurement instruments were used. It's certain that ship-builders had a very clear mental picture of the completed ship during the construction process. In this illustration from the Bayeux tapestry, William gives instructions for the construction of his invasion fleet to his ship-builder, who holds a T-shaped broad axe in his hand.

Chapter 88 of Óláfs saga Trygvassonar tells of the construction of the Ormr inn langi, the Long Serpent. Þorbergr skaffhögg made the stem and stern, but was obliged to leave before the ship was completed. When he returned, he apparently was not pleased with what he saw. Secretly at night, he cut crossing diagonal incisions into the upper strakes on one side, ruining the ship. The next morning, King Óláfr, in a rage, vowed death to the man who had done the damage. Þorbergr freely admitted to it, and the king ordered him to repair the ship so that it was just as fine as before. Þorbergr didn't replace the damaged strakes, but rather, took yet more material off with his adze, until the damage disappeared. Everyone agreed the ship now looked better than before, and King Óláfr asked him to do the same to the other side of the ship. The Ormr inn langi was considered to be the best ship ever built in Norway.

There is little doubt that ship builders used plumb-lines together with staves and strings to lay out the ship. It's been suggested that a measuring stick called a boat ell was used to measure the angles between the runs of the strakes, and that master ship builders recorded the details of their designs with marks cut into this stick. Ship designs are based on segments of circles with different diameters based on the length of the keel. (The photo to the left shows the stem of the Íslendingur.)

As with other Norse objects, ships were highly decorated. The intricate carving on the stern of the Oseberg ship is shown to the left, and a weathervane from a Norse ship is shown to the right (above).

Dragon heads may have decorated the prows (and occasionally, the sterns) of ships. The dragon head decoration of the Íslendingur is shown to the right (below). Early Icelandic laws (as stated in Landnámabók H.268) prohibited ships with dragon head prows from entering harbor, lest the frightening appearance of the ship threaten the tranquility of the landvættir (land spirits).

A ship's sail was a very precious item. It's quite possible that the sail cost as much to make as the hull. Typically, the sail was made from the finest grade of homespun wool, woven on the same vertical loom (right) in the home that was used for clothing. It has been suggested that it took several women several years to make the fabric needed for a single sail.

On the other hand, chapter 68 of Egils saga says that while Egill stayed with Arinbjörn one winter in Norway, he had an elaborate sail made for Arinbjörn as a gift.

The sail for the Skuldelev 1 knörr was probably on the order of 90 sq m (950 sq ft). When completed, the sail was coated with animal fats and oils to protect it from the elements. Literary sources say that sails were often striped.

Sails were square and had a low aspect ratio. The sail for the Skuldelev 1 knörr had a height of approximately 5.5m (18ft) and a length of approximately 16.5m (55ft), resulting in an aspect ratio of 0.33.

The mast was stepped into a socket in the keelson, a longitudinal timber on top of the keel. The keelson rested on the keel, but was not fastened to the keel. Instead, it connected to multiple ribs on both sides.

The keelson transferred all of the forces of propulsion generated by the sail to the hull of the ship, and so it was a very substantial piece of oak.

In order to avoid having to lift the full weight of the mast to get the boot of the mast in and out of the keelson socket when stepping or unstepping the mast, the socket was rounded in the forward direction. As a result the boot of the mast slipped in and out without having to lift the entire mast up over a lip.

The mast partner (sometimes called a mastfish because its shape is reminiscent of that of a fish) is the portion of the mast support that is visible in the photo to the left. Some ships did not use a mast partner. However, when used, the mast partner spread out the forces transmitted from the sail to the hull, greatly relieving the stress on the socket in the keelson.

A cross section of the mast support for the Gokstad ship is shown to the right (forward to the left, and aft to the right). The keelson rested on the keel, attached to four ribs. The mastfish rested on four crossbraces, and on a raised portion of the keelson. A wedge in the mastfish helped hold the mast in place, but could be removed when the mast was to be unstepped.

The Gokstad mast did not survive intact, but is estimated to have been 12m (40ft) high. The mastfish was the most substantial piece of wood on the ship. The Gokstad mastfish was a single piece of oak 5m (16ft) long, 1m (40in) wide, and 50cm (20in) thick.

Upright stanchions (described in more detail later) held the sail and yard when not in use. On the Gokstad ship, one of the uprights was mounted on the mastfish. No such uprights were used on the Íslendingur, seen in the photograph above.

The details of the ship's rigging are obscure. Evidence indicates that a forestay was used, as well as shrouds from the mast to the sides of the ship aft. There is no evidence for a backstay, and probably none was needed because of the strong seating of the mast.

In some cases, the cleats for the shrouds were outboard, with the shroud attached to a willow ring fastened to the cleat to prevent rubbing.

An illustration from the Bayeux tapestry gives us further clues. It depicts King Harold's ship sailing back to England, and the details suggest a typical clinker-built ship with side rudder. The sail is clearly square rigged, with four shrouds, and a forestay and backstay.

Some sources claim that ropes were made of hemp, or from walrus or seal skin. These skin ropes were highly prized, and were an important trade item. They were probably made by cutting the hide in a spiral around the body of the creature.

However, Crumlin-Pedersen claims that there is little evidence of hemp or animal skin ropes being used for nautical applications and suggests that bast fiber from oak, elm, or other trees was used for ropes. Bast is fiber obtained from the inner bark of the tree, which after retting (which removes the desired soft fibers from the undesired woody fibers), is twisted into strands and then into rope.

One piece of evidence for animal skin ropes from after the Viking age comes from chapter 161 of Íslendinga saga, which describes a journey from Norway to Iceland in the 13^th century. The ship was wrecked, and four men survived thirteen days by eating the walrus-hide tackle with butter, the only part of the cargo that was salvaged.

Chapter 18 of Króka-Refs saga says that Refur was welcome when he arrived in Denmark because he brought with him walrus-hide ropes from Greenland, which were hard to obtain in Denmark.

The carvings of ships under sail made during the Viking age (left) show an interlace at the foot of the sail. It has been suggested that this was used to fine tune the curve of the sail to get the best speed possible as close to the wind as possible.

Another explanation is that the interlace was used to reef the sail in high winds. Pulling on the bottom of the interlace caused the sail to pucker, reducing its effectiveness.

The carvings also show a cross-hatch pattern on the sail whose purpose is unknown. It has long been thought simply to be artistic license. Recently, it's been suggested that the cross-hatch was actually walrus-hide (or other leather) reinforcements. The homespun wool used for sails was probably not strong enough to hold its shape. As a result, the wind would blow the sail out of shape in time. Walrus-hide reinforcements created a more stable sail that set well. As far as I can tell, this idea is pure speculation, without any evidence to back it up.

When the sail was furled, the sail and yard were stored on uprights located fore and aft. The photo right shows the yard and sail on the Viking Saga, a passenger carrying replica of a Skuldelev knörr at L'Anse aux Meadows in Newfoundland. If the mast needed to be unstepped, it, too, could be stored cradled in the uprights. It's possible that oars were stored here, as well.

Anchors were usually made from stone lashed into a wooden frame (left). The anchor shown to the right (from Denmark) is made entirely of iron and is about 1.5m (5ft) in the long dimension. Some of the more elaborate anchors that have been found use an iron bound wooden shank and have iron rings to accommodate the cable.

The value of the anchor can be seen in an incident related in chapter 28 of Ljósvetninga saga. After waiting a long time for favorable weather, a cold wind from the northwest finally sprung up, so Þorvarður had the anchor raised on his ship. But as his crew pulled, the cable broke. Þorvarður asked for a volunteer to make a repair. Only Hallur stepped forward. Taking off his shirt, he dove into the cold water with the cable in his hand. He reattached it to the anchor so it could be raised. The anchor was too valuable to the ship for the skipper to allow it to be left behind.

The tiller and a side rudder were located on the starboard side. The rudder was held away from the side of the ship by a wooden "boss" (sometimes called a wart, for obvious reasons).

The photos show the rudder and tiller (left) of the Íslendingur. In the photo to the right, the securing line was loosened and the rudder was pulled away from the hull, revealing the boss and the knotted line that passes inboard to secure the rudder to the ship using knots and wedges. Near the gunwale, the neck of the rudder is held in place against the hull by a leather strap or other means, visible in the photo on the left. The modern ship replicas use a "cradle" to help support the neck of the rudder.

Thus, the rudder is maintained at the proper depth in the water, typically 50cm (about 19in) deeper than the keel. It is secured to the hull in two places that are capable of resisting the forces generated by the rudder.

Yet, the flexibility of the rope, and the smooth curves of the boss and cradle allow the rudder to be rotated over a wide range of angles, controlled by the tiller.

The photo (left) shows the rudder of the Viking ship Sae Hrafn while under oar power and moving with a speed of about 2 knots relative to the water. The side rudder is not very effective for large course changes, but it is easily handled because of its balance.

I have read in several sources that the side rudder makes the ship slow to respond. I consider myself a novice sailor, but my brief time at the helm of the Viking ship Vésteinn suggests those published sources are incorrect. My sense was that the ship answered the helm with alacrity.

The tiller and rudder of the Vésteinn are shown to the right. I was surprised by the strength required to work the rudder. That shouldn't have surprised me, given the limited mechanical advantage offered by the rudder.

The skipper of the Viking Saga told me that the ship can easily capsize when the wind is from abeam. That explains how, on one hand, Viking-era ships can be described as performing well in adverse conditions, and how, on the other hand, the sagas describe ships being blown far off their intended course under adverse wind conditions. In stiff winds, a Viking ship would have to be steered in a direction to keep the wind off the beam.

The skipper also commented that the Viking ship sails very differently from a modern sailing vessels of similar size. He said some practice was needed to become familiar with the ship's idiosyncrasies, but once mastered, "the ship sails herself".

It's unlikely that the Norse used any navigational instruments. The sun-compass and the sun-stone sometimes mentioned are most likely modern fabrications.

The sólarsteinn (sun stone) is not mentioned in the Sagas of Icelanders, although the term appears in the contemporary sagas, which take place well after the end of the Viking age. There are no descriptions of its use for navigation in the stories. Even if the sun-stone were a polarizing stone, as some believe, the device would have only limited navigational use in northern latitudes.

The wooden fragment found at the site of a Norse Benedictine monastery in Greenland has been interpreted as a sun-compass, but that interpretation seems fanciful (right). The artifact is too small to make a useful navigational tool.

Some believe that portable sundials existed in the period, corrected by month, that allowed a navigator to determine time of day or latitude based on differences in the length of a shadow. Others doubt the existence of even this simple navigational tool.

Regardless, there is evidence that skilled astronomical observations were made during the Norse era, necessary for keeping the calendar synchronized with the motions of the stars. Ljósvetninga saga (ch.14) says that Einarr often went out at night to study with care the objects in the night sky.

Several of the earliest surviving Icelandic textbooks (although dating from after the Norse era) cover astronomy (left). By the beginning of the 12^th century, Stjörnu-Oddi Helgason (Star-Oddi) had created Oddatala, detailed charts of the sun's altitude at noon and its bearing at sunrise and sunset for every day of the year in Iceland.

In addition, Norse navigators understood the relationship between latitude and the sun's height at noon. Chapter 2 of Grœnlendinga saga describes the motion of the sun in winter as observed in Vínland in an apparent attempt to fix the latitude of the site. Despite many attempts by modern enthusiasts to interpret the observations, little definitive can be said other than that the locations was considerably south of Iceland.

There is evidence that tents were carried on board ship. The tent shown to the right is a reproduction of the smaller of the two tents found in the Oseberg ship burial, a very rich burial site. It's unlikely that such tents were common, although tenting material, or even the sail, was put to use to create shelter on board ship when beached.

(Information and plans for this Oseberg tent reproduction are available at the Hurstwic library.)

An example is shown on the chart to the left. The sailing directions for Greenland are listed in the Landnámabók, an account of the discovery and settlement of Iceland written in the 12^th century. To get to Greenland, Norse navigators followed the Norwegian coast to Hernar (where the fjord on which Bergen lies opens to the sea). From there, they sailed due west, maintaining a constant latitude, shown by the yellow arrow. They passed north of the Shetlands, which were barely visible, and south of the Faeroes, such that the sea reached half way up the mountains. They passed so far south of Iceland that sailors were aware of its presence only by the birds and whales from it. Then, there was nothing but open ocean until reaching Greenland. No wonder that so few ships attempted the journey, and that fewer still arrived safely.

The voyage is 1600km (850 nautical miles), yet the description shows that even in open ocean, navigation marks existed that could be used by Viking sailors. Whale feeding grounds, concentrations of nautical birds, and swells could all be used to help confirm that the ship was on course.

In order to maintain a constant latitude, some believe that Norse navigators employed a device that measured the sun's shadow at noon. This instrument used a wooden disc floating in a pail of water. (A modern reproduction is shown to the right.)

In the center of the disc is a vertical peg. At noon, the length of the peg's shadow was marked on the disc. On each subsequent day of the voyage, the navigator made certain that the sun's shadow fell on the mark at noon, ensuring that the ship maintained a constant latitude.

Because of the slow apparent vertical motion of the sun in high latitudes, it appears that this device could be effective and accurate. Large errors in the estimate of local noon, or of the date, would still allow a navigator to estimate his north-south position to within 30 nautical miles.

However, to my knowledge, there is no solid evidence that such devices were used by Norse navigators.

This low resolution video clip (1.5MB Windows Media file or 500KB AVI file) shows the Íslendingur under sail across a calm sea. The Íslendingur is an replica of a Viking-era warship and is now on display at a new museum, Víkingaheimar at Reykjanesbær in Iceland.