by Kieran O'Brien
Fifth Class
They built the strongest, fastest and most seaworthy ships off their time. These wonderful ships carried Viking explorers, merchants, settlers, pirates and raiders all over the world.
The longship or warship are the best known of all Viking ships.
Longships could move quickly by rowing or by sail and were ideal for raiding parties. Another kind of viking ship was the merchant or cargo ship, called the Knorr. The Knorr was a sturdier ship and sat deeper in the water.
Longships were longer narrow bouts which could be up to thirty metres in length. They were not heavy and travelled quickly through the water as they had oars as well as a large sail. Some longships had dragons carved on them.
In 1904, a ship called the Oseberg was dug up on a farm in Norway.It is 21 m long and was buried as part of a funeral cermony for a Viking queen. When the Vikings came in to Harbour all the shields were hung over the sides. They were so briliantly painted they dazzled the eyes of the watchers.
The longships had names like ''Snake of the Sea''. It was a woman's job to see that there sons and husbands were well provided for their voyages. They made and packed enough food and to make sleeping bags out of the reindeer skins. There were no cabins to sleep in and there was no place to cook food on the boats.
