The serpent rushed the son of Tryggvi, Well done, along the waves, The mouth gaping evil, I will be crimped with gold.
Olav climbed the Bison, The noble wolf is water.
Beast soap sea
Powerful horn on the road.
(Memorial drape about Saint Olav. Translation by S. V. Petrov.)
For the most part, people here have heard a lot about the Vikings and their ships, and the age of the Internet after all, so everyone seems to already know that they sailed on long such ships with one mast with a striped sail and a dragon's head on the stem. They didn't seem to have any other ships? Or were they? In fact, the early medieval Scandinavians had many types of ships, and they all differed from each other, as, say, the Matiz differs today from the same Mercedes. Knorr and Kaupskip were intended for sailing for the sake of trade; for military campaigns for prey - auger (which means "thin and outstanding"), skade (can be translated as "cutting water") and drakar or "dragon" - the name that such ships were given due to the custom of carving the head of a dragon on the stem such ships.
Ferdinand Like, Viking Raid (1906). I don’t know, maybe from the point of view of pictorial skill Ferdinand Like was a wonderful artist, but in terms of history he is still a dreamer. The Vikings did not have a "barrel" on the mast, moreover, the mast itself in his picture is not where it should be. It is shifted to the left towards the board. And this is already the inability to correctly build a perspective. Shields on the sides … Why are they on the raid here? Moreover, one of them is rectangular. The swords in the hands of the Vikings are clearly of the Bronze Age, it's good that the helmets are not with horns! But the most amazing thing, of course, is the ram! Where did he get it? After all, the finds of the Viking ships were already known. The images of runestones have been published … No, I don't like such painters!
Ships of a wide variety of purposes, which were equally suitable for trade and pirate raids, such as, for example, the ship found in Gokstad, were usually called scuta or karfi. The main difference between commercial and military ships was that the first, that is, knorrs and kaupskips, were short, but wide, had a high freeboard, and also primarily depended on the sail area. Military ships, on the other hand, were narrow and long, had a smaller displacement, which allowed them to climb up the rivers and freely overcome the coastal shallow water, had a significantly larger number of oars. That is why the Viking warships and received a very characteristic name landskip - or "long ship" ("boat").
Another "long ship". Viking Museum in Hedeby.
But the Viking warships could vary greatly in size. They were usually classified by the number of benches (cans) for rowers (cessa), or by the presence of gaps between the crossbeams ("seats", room or spantrum). For example, in the X century. The thirteen-bar ship (trittancessa, i.e. a vessel with 13 places for oarsmen (cans) on each side, or 26 oars) was the smallest of those ships that could be attributed to the military, i.e. which were even smaller were considered unsuitable for war. So, for example, it is known that in the Viking raids on England at the end of the 9th century. 16-18 can vessels participated, while the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle reports that the Great King of Wessex Alfred in 896 already built 60-oared ships (with 30 places for oarsmen on each side), twice as large in size than the Viking ships.
Ship from Oseberg. Viking Ship Museum in Oslo.
By the way, in Norway they really respect their history. This is evidenced by the large number of museums in Oslo and other cities. One of them, the Viking Museum, located on the Bygdø Peninsula, is dedicated to three burial ships at once, found at the end of the 19th century in burial mounds. Everything here is laconic, simple and solemn. Large old windows, a lot of space and light, but the light of antiquity, history. It is surprising that the shape of the windows and the architecture of the building are directly related to the sense of time. Spaciously, as if at the bottom of a transparent sea, these ships stand … black, strict and as if alive …
Therefore, the 16-can ship found at Gokstad (dating from about the same time) was the minimum size to be considered a military vessel. The standard size for warships is 20 or 25 cans. Thirty-bank buildings were also built, but in very small numbers. Giant warships with more than 30 cans appeared only at the very end of the 10th century. The most famous of these was the "Long Serpent" by King Olaf Trigvasson, which had 34 benches (or rowing places). It was built in the winter of 998; but at that time, most likely, there were other similar vessels. There are also 35-canned ships built in the XI-XIII centuries. First of all, this is the "Great Dragon" of King Harald Hardrad, built in the winter of 1061-1062. in Nidaros.
Making a replica of a ship decoration from Oseberg.
In The Saga of King Harald, this ship is described as wider than conventional warships, of similar size and proportions, but fundamentally the same as them. The nose is decorated with the head of the dragon, at the stern - its tail, and the bow figure was gilded. It had 35 pairs of rowing seats and was enormous even for its class.
And this is how this detail looks in the end.
Among the five ships found in Skuldelev, one turned out to be very large, although it turned out to be in poor condition. Experts believe that its dimensions were approximately 27.6 meters in length and 4.5 in width, and it was 20-25 oars. Other examples of Viking ships were also excavated: for example, in Ladby (burial time ca. 900-950), the length of which was 21 m, and the oars were 12 pairs; in Tun (burial time ca. 850-900) - length 19.5 m and with 11 pairs of oars. By the way, the ship from Oseberg had 15 pairs of oars; and the Gokstad ship was slightly larger and therefore had 16 pairs. By the way, the knorr that was found in Skuldelev is so far the only merchant ship that has been discovered in recent years. Its dimensions are 16, 20 by 4, 52 m.
Some of the Viking ship remakes are really great. For example, the Drakkar "Harald the Fair-haired".
He's a front view.
And this is his "head". Effective, you can't say anything, but the differences in the artistic manner of decorating such "heads" between the Vikings and those who today imitate them are immediately striking. The form is one - but the content of the decapitation is completely different!
Both the Viking warships and merchant ships had two decks raised in the bow and stern ends. Between them stretched a deck, sheathed with boards, which were specially attached loosely and could be lifted when stowing cargo in the hold. During anchorage or stay in the harbor, it was covered with a large awning, like a large tent, and the mast was removed. The Swarfdel saga, for example, describes 12 ships anchored like this: “All covered with black awnings. From under the tents the light was coming through, where people were sitting and drinking."
The "head" of the drakkar. Museum of the History of Culture. University of Oslo.
Another similar head …
The same head from a different angle. Viking Ship Museum. Oslo.
Everyone, even children, today imagine Viking ships with shields on their sides. And, yes, it is indeed believed that the team used to hang them along the gunwale. The only question is how often it was done and why? Some experts believe that it is impossible to row after hanging the shields in this way. But this opinion is based only on the example of the Gokstad ship. On it, indeed, the shields, being tied with straps to a wooden rail, really closed the holes for the oars. But already on the Oseberg ship, they were attached to the outer side of the planer so that they did not interfere with rowing. Well, if we again turn to the sagas, it is directly written there that the shields were hung like that. For example, in the saga "The Battle of the Gafrs Fjord" it is written that the gunwales "shone with polished shields," and in the Battle of the Nissa River in 1062, "the soldiers made a fortification of shields hung along the gunwale." This is confirmed by drawings on stones from the island of Gotland, where it can be seen that the shields are located exactly in this way on the ships.
Carved head of the "Hugin" drakkar. Spectacular, I admit it, but very kind of … decorative!
What's really unusual is that on all Viking ships, the decks are perfectly smooth. In none of them was there a hint of the existence of any rowing benches. Therefore, it is believed that the rowers sat on their chests. In any case, the chests from the Oseberg ship were quite suitable for sitting.
This is what it is, "Hugin". Handsome, isn't he? And shields to scale. But … were they all the same?
True, there seems to be information that the Scandinavian sailors of that time kept all their belongings not in chests, but in leather bags, which simultaneously served them and sleeping bags. But how exactly it was not known for sure! On one of the warships discovered near Skuldelev, transverse beams could be used as seats. There is also an assumption that the rowers generally … stood. The oars themselves, on average, had a length of about 5 meters, on a Gokstad ship they were from 5, 10 to 6, 20 m long. Moreover, one oarsman usually rowed with an oar, but in battle two more stood out to help him: one defended the rower with an oar from enemy throwing shells, the other was a replacement and was waiting for his turn.
One of my first models of Viking ships of the "SMER" company. Even then, in the late 80s, when I just started receiving models from the West, I was struck by some strange, button-like shields, and a strange head and tail, although I really liked the figures. What was to be done? I cut off the "head" and "tail" and made them myself. I threw away the button shields and made them myself.
For movement on the high seas, the Vikings raised on their ships downright huge square sails. They began to be used in the 8th century, and this, undoubtedly, was one of those significant technological innovations that ensured the flourishing of their civilization. An example of their effectiveness is the sailing of the replica ship Viking, an exact replica of the Gokstad ship that sailed across the Atlantic Ocean in 28 days. At the same time, he could maintain a speed of up to 11 knots for hours, which was a good indicator for that time for most steam ships, because not all of them were record holders who fought for the Blue Ribbon of the Atlantic.
For what I do not like "model sites", it is for such models. Everything seems to be very accurate. But … the "metallized" parts on the Oseberg ship were not metallized, and if they were, they would have been … gilded. Identical shields … Also somehow not too historical.
Here it is - a carving from an Oseberg ship. No traces of gilding!
The sails of the Vikings themselves were probably made of wool, although some experts claim they were linen. Ornamental designs, reminiscent of the slanting lattice, depicted on the Gotland runestones, in fact, perhaps depict the leather straps and ropes with which the then shipbuilders tried to maintain the shape of woolen sails. These pictures also show the principle of reefing with ropes attached to the bottom of the sail. It was undoubtedly no different from the principle of operation used on North Norwegian fishing boats until the 19th century. When the rope was pulled, the canvas reefed, formed folds, and thus the sail itself was gradually removed. The sagas describe Viking sails with blue, red, green and white stripes and cages. The remains of the sail from the Gokstad ship were white (the color of unbleached canvas) with red stripes. The mast was most likely half the length of the ship itself, therefore, since when it was lowered during the battle, it did not even touch the beams at the stern. In general, not a single mast was found.
Viking ship model from the museum in Hedeby.
Model of a Gokstad ship. Historically, everything seems to be true, but look at the shield pins and the shields themselves. Umbons are larger than necessary and do not have recesses on the back side, as well as handles for holding. The shields should have at least a hint of leather trim around the edge!
Another one pointed at the Viking ships rally in Brest in 2012. Here and the cladding is well done, and the carving, and the shields are excellent and different. But … the authors of this vessel got their dragon on the bow somehow already very drooping. We ought to give them a more proud, not a "lowered" look!
A large steering oar with a removable handle was on the right side. The handle is a tiller, some of it was decorated with runes, which made the steering wheel in the hands of the helmsman more "obedient". Rook from Oseberg. Viking Ship Museum. Oslo.
The stem and sternpost were usually decorated with the heads and tails of animals carved from wood, mainly such as a dragon or a snake. Judging by the Norwegian rock carvings, this custom appeared in Europe in the 1st-2nd centuries. The names of the ships were usually given by such gilded heads: Long Serpent "," Bull "," Crane "," Human Head ". According to Icelandic custom, having gone to a new land and upon arrival there, one had to first transport the head from the ship there in order to expel the local evil spirits. This custom may have been known throughout Scandinavia. In any case, the "Bayeux embroidery" depicts the Norman flotilla sailing on the sea, with figures of heads on the stems, but which docked in England - already without them. That is, these "heads" were removable? There is also such information that they were so terrible that, when sailing home, the Vikings closed them or took them off so as not to frighten the children.
Everyone knows the legendary raft of Thor Heyerdahl across the Pacific Ocean. But few people know that his compatriot Magnus Andersen, inspired by the discovery of the Gokstad ship in 1880, built its first replica, gave it the name "Viking" and in 1893 sailed across the Atlantic Ocean to prove that such voyages were for such ships are quite possible. His voyage was crowned with success, and after four weeks of sailing, the Viking arrived at the World's Fair in Chicago. Another Norwegian, Ragnar Torset, built three copies of the Viking ships. On one of them, "Saga Siglar", he was in 1984 - 1986. even made a round-the-world trip! In total, over 30 copies of Viking ships were built at different times and in different countries.
This carved weather vane is made of gilded bronze. The sagas say that such weather vane was attached to the prows of many Viking ships, as a sign of special significance, but it is not known how it manifested itself. Four copies of such weathercocks have survived to this day, and then only because they were on the steeples of churches! This weather vane was found in Helsingland in Sweden, others on about. Gotland and Norway. All four weathercocks date from the XI-XIII centuries, but an example from Sweden by some scientists belongs to the X century. It has the characteristic scratches and dents given to it by arrows. So he obviously had time to be in the battles! Such weathercocks were used exactly as much as the Viking ships themselves, but they ended up on the spiers of churches due to the tradition of keeping sails and other gear of warships in churches. Well, when the old ships were no longer used, the beautiful carved weather vane migrated to the church spiers. So not only carved heads adorned the stems of Viking warships!
