Longship facts for kids
Longships were special boats used by people a long time ago. They were built for trading, exploring new lands, and sometimes for raiding. While many people think of them as only Viking ships, other early groups living near the Baltic Sea and North Sea also used them.
The Vikings were especially good at designing longships. Their ships were light and fast, and they could even travel up rivers! When the Anglo-Saxons came to Great Britain, they arrived in longships. Later, in 1066, William the Conqueror used many longships to bring his army to England when he conquered it.
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Early Longships
The oldest longship found dates back to about 350 BC. This ship, called the Hjortspring boat, was found in a bog in southern Denmark. It was made from wooden planks sewn together with cords. The gaps between the planks were filled with sticky tree resin.
The Hjortspring boat was about 59 feet (18 meters) long. It was very light and could bend easily. It had a front and back that looked like a bird's beak. Twenty men could row it, and it had a steering oar at both ends. A copy of this boat was built and tested. It was very fast, moving at about 7 miles per hour in calm water.
Another important early ship was the Nydam ship. It was found in a bog in Jutland in 1863. This ship was built using a method called clinker construction. This means the wooden boards overlap each other and are held together with nails.
The Nydam ship was about 77 feet (23.5 meters) long and 11 feet (3.5 meters) wide. It was sunk between 350 and 400 AD. Unlike later ships, it did not have a mast for a sail. Thirty men could row it. This type of shallow, open ship could cross the open sea. However, it could also fill with water and sink in bad weather.
Different Kinds of Longships
Viking longships were designed to cross oceans or row up shallow rivers. Over time, their design changed. Many different types of longships were built for different jobs.
The smallest ships were called Faering (meaning four oars) and Sexaeringer (meaning six oars). These were used in the narrow waterways called fjords for fishing and moving people around.
Karvi Ships
Karvi were longships with 12 to 32 oars. The Gokstad Ship is a very famous Karvi type ship. It was found in 1880 and was very well preserved.
The Gokstad ship was 76 feet (23 meters) long and 17.5 feet (5.3 meters) wide. It had a strong keel (the backbone of the ship) and was made of oak wood. Its rudder, used for steering, was about 11 feet (3.3 meters) long. The mast, which held the sail, was about 40 feet (12 meters) tall. A copy of the Gokstad ship sailed across the Atlantic Ocean in 1893.
Snekkja Ships
A snekkja was a special type of warship. Its name means 'thin and projecting'. These ships had at least 20 rowing benches. Both Swedish Vikings and people called Wends used them. A snekkja could carry 44 men and 2 horses. They were one of the most common warships. For example, a leader of the Wends, Duke Ratibor, had 660 of these ships when he attacked Kongälf in 1135.
Skeid Ships
Skeid (meaning 'that which cuts through water') were larger warships. They usually had more than 30 rowing benches. These were some of the biggest longships ever found. They even had armor over the openings where the oars went, to protect the rowers.
King Aethelred of England ordered these ships to be built all over England. Each area of 310 hides (a unit of land) had to provide one such ship.
Drakkar Ships
The largest warships of that time were called Drakkar (meaning 'dragon'). They often had a dragon head carved on the front. King Olaf I of Norway had a famous Drakkar ship called Long Serpent. King Olaf II of Norway had one named Visunden (the Ox), which had an ox head carved on its front.
Matilda of Flanders had a Drakkar ship built for her husband, William the Conqueror. It was named the Mora and was built in Normandy in 1066. These ships could travel in shallow water and were easy to pull onto a beach.
Transport Ships
Many transport ships were called Knarrs. From the 800s, larger sailing ships were used for trading across the sea. These were cargo ships designed to carry goods. They had a small crew, few oars, and mainly used sails for power. They could carry a lot of cargo.
An example is the Klåstad ship, built in the late 900s. It was wrecked near Kaupang in Norway. This ship could carry about 13 tons of goods and was 69 feet (21 meters) long.
William the Conqueror also used special transport ships in 1066 to carry horses. His fleet had 776 vessels. Many were for soldiers, but others carried supplies and horses. The Normans used cavalry (soldiers on horseback) and needed to transport their war horses. They had builders who knew how to make these horse transport ships.
Images for kids
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A drawing of a longship. They were not always equipped with shields.
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Building the 35-meter-long Skeid longship Draken Harald Hårfagre.
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The city seal of Bergen shows a Viking longship, possibly a drakkar.
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The Stora Hammars I stone in Sweden, showing armed warriors in a longship.
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A drawing of a longship construction, showing the Sebbe Als ship. It is a rebuilt snekke from Denmark.
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The ships' design made them strong, agile, and versatile. They could sail in the open ocean, along coasts, in fjords, and up many rivers. They could also be landed on a beach. This ship is the rebuilt Imme Gram.
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A drawing of a Viking sundial (from a stamp) with a cone-shaped gnomon and its shadow.
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An image from the Bayeux Tapestry showing Harold Godwinson's ship approaching a beach.
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See also
In Spanish: Drakkar para niños
