The longship
Clinker-built Norse warships used for raiding, exploration, and commerce.
Last updated
Vyacheslav Kirillin · CC BY-SA 4.0
They are sometimes called "dragonships" because of a tradition of decorating the fore and aft ends with a raised dragonhead and tail.[1] Designed for swiftness, these vessels were elongated and narrow, enabling them to transport numerous warriors.[1] The designation "dragons" (dreki) was applied to the biggest vessels, whereas smaller ones were known as karve, snekke, and skeid.[1]
Quick Facts
- Type
- Warship
- Period
- At least 4th century AD through Viking Age
- Origin
- Scandinavia (Norse and surrounding Germanic tribes)
- Known for
- Clinker-built
- oar and sail propulsion
- dragonhead decoration
- speed and troop transport
- Largest type
- Dragons (dreki)
- Smaller types
- Karve (karfi)
- snekke (snekkja)
- skeid (skeið)
Facts from the source article.
What happened
The evolution of shipbuilding in Scandinavia was facilitated by development of the iron industry, with a great increase in iron production in the later Viking Age.[2] In 844, a flotilla of about 80 Viking ships ascended the Guadalquivir to Seville and took it by storm on 3 October.[3] In 842, Quentovic came under attack, and in 845, Hamburg was assaulted by 600 Danish ships.[4] A significant long-distance Viking expedition departed for al-Andalus in 859, where they set fire to the mosque at Išbīliya and later the mosque at al-Jazīrah.[5]
Incursions into al-Andalus occurred in 859, 966, and 971; however, a planned invasion in 971 failed when the entire Viking fleet was destroyed.[6]
What the cited sources add
Nordeide's team says that based on dendrochronological dating, the trees used to construct the two Kvalsund vessels are estimated to have been felled at the end of the 8th century, ca. 780–800.[7] Sæbjørg Walaker Nordeide's dendrochronology team states that the Kvalsund ship represents a transitional phase between early Iron Age ship technology and that of the Viking Age.[8] Olav Tryggvason's 30-room vessel Tranin, constructed at Nidaros in 995, is the earliest drekki ship with a recorded size.[9]
References
- Wikipedia, "Longship" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Nordisk familjebok / Uggleupplagan. 17. Lux - Mekanik", runeberg.org, p. 149–150 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Longship" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Price, "Children of Ash and Elm: A History of the Vikings", Basic Books, 2020, p. 120; Zachrisson, "Iron and the Transformation of Society: Reflexion of Viking Age Metallurgy", Jernkontorets Bergshistoriska Skriftserie 51, 2020, p. 121; Tveiten, "Viking-Age Transformations: Trade, Craft and Resources in Western Scandinavia", Taylor & Francis, 2017, p. 111–115; Bowles, "Viking expansion and the search for bog iron", Platforum, 2011, p. 35 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Longship" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Price, "The Viking World", Routledge, 2008, p. 465–466 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Longship" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Magnus Magnusson.The Vikings. p. 71, History Press. 2008,; Garrison, "History of Engineering and Technology: Artful Methods", CRC Press, 1998, p. 111 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Longship" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: García Losquiño, "Vikings in the Mediterranean: Proceedings of an International Conference co-organized by the Norwegian, Swedish, and Danish Institutes at Athens, 27-30 November 2019", Norwegian Institute at Athens, 202; Price, "The Viking World", Routledge, 2008, p. 465–466 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Longship" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Riosalido, "Los vikingos en al-Andalus", Al-Andalus Magreb, 1997, p. 335–344 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Longship" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Nordeide, "At the threshold of the Viking Age: New dendrochronological dates for the Kvalsund ship and boat bog offerings (Norway)", Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, February 2020, p. 4 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Longship" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Nordeide, "At the threshold of the Viking Age: New dendrochronological dates for the Kvalsund ship and boat bog offerings (Norway)", Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 2020 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Longship" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Rodger, "Cnut's Geld and the Size of Danish Ships", The English Historical Review, 1995, p. 395 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Longship (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
More in The Viking Age
Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Longship (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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