Freyja's Fridays - Viking Ships
Freyja's Fridays - Viking Ships As well as being formidble on land they were of course known for their iconic ships, the most famous was the longship which carried 32 viking rowers and a Jarl with some space for all the plunder from their raids, they called these Busse and were around 70 feet in length. There was also a smaller version which carried 18 rowers called a Karvi. They often had an elaborately carved prow and sten resembling fierce creatures giving them name Drakuschiffen (Dragon Ships). they would be fairly slow ships as they could only reach speeds of around 5 knots but their size meant the vikings could move straight from the sea to a river and sail right into the heart of a country. The other ships they had were a Knarr which was a trade ship and about 54 feet in length and a small open rowboat called a Faering. They would all be built from Oak and the hull could be as thin as 2.5cm. The two famous finds are the Gokstad ship and the Oseberg ship.
